Bölümler
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Today, in our passage here in Luke 12:8-10, we have one ofthe most interesting and discussed topics in the Gospels and that is the questionof what does it mean to “blaspheme against the Holy Spirit.”
Luke 12 begins with Jesus warning the disciples to “bewareof the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy”. Over the next several versesJesus instructs both the disciples and the crowd on how to avoid becoming ahypocrite like the Pharisees of His day. Of course this is very much for usbelievers today. There are some very practical things we can do that will keepus from compromising our faith and going along with the crowd. Sometimes itmight be the crowd in the world with their ungodly ways, or most likely itcould be the crowd in our religious circles with their emphasis on the externalrituals, ceremonies, legalism, and made-up rules and preferences.
First, Jesus tells us to remember that everything we say ordo in secret, or behind closed doors, will one day be exposed to everyone to seeand hear (vv. 2-3). Secondly, Jesus tells us not to fear men, or anyone, and whatthey might say or do against us, but to fear God (vv. 4-5). Third, Jesusreminds us that despite our circumstances during difficult and tragic times, Godstills loves and cares for us and notices the smallest detail of our lives andall the needs of our lives (vv. 6-7).
Now in our verses today (vv. 8-12), which begin with, “Also,I say unto you”, Jesus gives us another way to avoid hypocrisy is to be courageousenough to publicly profess and confess Christ openly (vv. 8-9)! And we shouldalso recognize and depend on the ministry of the Holy Spirit (vv.10-12).
We need to remember that one day we will have to standbefore God at the Judgement Seat of Christ and give an account of our deeds. (Notour sins, because they are taken care of at the cross.) If we obediently and courageouslyprofess Christ openly now to the lost world around us, on that day Christ willconfess that we have been “good and faithful servants” before both the Fatherand the angels in heaven. But if we deny Him now, fail to live and stand up forHim, Jesus says we will be ashamed before the angels in heaven on that day.
What a great motivation to avoid being a hypocrite!!!!!
Now what about the statement concerning the “blasphemy ofthe Holy Spirit’? We need to recognize that this statement is connected withthe ministry of the Spirit in and through the Apostles (Luke 12:11-12). TheJewish nation rejected God the Father when they refused to obey John theBaptist and repent, for John was sent by the Father. They rejected God the Sonwhen they asked Pilate to crucify Him. But that sin could be forgiven becausethere was still the ministry of the Spirit.
God did not judge the nation immediately. Instead, Jesusprayed for them as He hanged on the cross (Luke 23:34; see also Acts 3:17).Then God sent the Holy Spirit who ministered through the Apostles and otherbelievers in the church. This was the last opportunity for the nation, and theyfailed by rejecting the witness of the Spirit (Acts 7:51). Luke 12:11-12 wasfulfilled during the first chapters of Acts when the message went "to theJew first" (Acts 3:26; 13:46; Rom. 1:16). Israel's third "nationalsin" was the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7), after which the message went outto the Samaritans (Acts 8), and then the Gentiles (Acts 10). Note that Stephensaid, "You always resist the Holy Spirit" (Acts 7:51).
I do not believe that the "sin against the HolySpirit" is committed by people today as it was by Israel centuries ago. InJohn 16:8-9, Jesus told His disciples “that when the Holy Spirit has come, Hewill convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin,because they do not believe in Me.
I believe that the only "unpardonable sin" todayis the final rejection of Jesus Christ (John 3:36). Make sure you have trusted Jesustoday! Tomorrow might be too late.
God bless!
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Fear God not man! First, we need understand thatGod created us as emotional creatures which is an aspect of being created inthe image of God. God has emotions! One of the most powerful and motivatingemotions we have is fear. There is a good benefit about fear, and there is abad aspect about fear.
The good thing about fear is that it warns us of impendingdanger so we can prepare for it. I should fear getting to close to the edge ofthe cliff, getting in deep water if I can’t swim, jumping out of a plane with afaulty parachute, or someone threatening to kill me with a gun. I get verymotivated to response in a proper way. But there is a fear that is not good.That is why the phrase, “Do not fear” or “do not be afraid” appears several hundredtimes in the Bible. There is a fear that paralyzes us or keeps us from doingthe right thing. There is a fear that indicates that we are not trusting Godfor His presence, protection, or His provision.
In this passage in Luke 12, it first appears that the Lordmight be teaching us and addressing fear as one of the basic causes of hypocrisy.You might notice that Jesus mentioned "fear" five times in theseverses. When we are afraid of what others may think or say about us, then wetry to impress them in order to gain their approval.
If necessary, we will even lie to accomplish our purposes,and this is hypocrisy. We often get caught up in the moment and follow a crowdto do evil, so we don’t get ridiculed for being different or being a religiousnut.
We also might fear what the crowd or our enemies could do tous physically, to our body, if we don’t compromise our faith and say what theywant to hear or do what they are demanding. It is very possible that this iswhat the Lord is referring to in these verses. For sure the Pharisees weremotivated to be hypocrites because they were more concerned about theirreputation rather than their character, what people thought about them ratherthan what God knew about them. If we are not careful, we easily fall into thesame trap. A good verse to remember when we face this temptation is Proverbs29:25: “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shallbe safe.”
The remedy for hypocrisy is to forget about what people maysay or do and fear God alone. The fear of God is the fear that conquers allother fears, for the person who truly fears God need fear nothing else. Allthat men can do is kill the body, but God can condemn the soul! Since He is thefinal Judge, and He judges for eternity, it is logical that we put the fear ofGod ahead of everything else. We also need to remember that the body is only temporary,but the soul is eternal. And that eternity is more important than time.
In verses 6-7, Jesus also gives us the answer to what mightbe our greatest fear, and that is, that God really doesn’t care about us. Jesusassures us God's amazing love and care. “Are not five sparrows sold for twocopper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God (v. 6). Godsees a sparrow fall from the sky and attends it in its hour of death. Mosestells us that God actually counts how many eggs a bird has in its nest (Deut.22:6-7). Coming closer to home, God “numbers the hairs on our head”. Goddoes not merely count them; He numbers them. The Greek word for “number” isarithmeo (from whence comes our word arithmetic). The word means that God notonly counts our hairs (a virtually impossible task) but He also labels them.
Think of it! God actually knows each separate individualhair on our head as separate and distinct from every other hair. That's ourGod! If He is that concerned about us, we must trust Him even when persecution orthe temptation to compromise comes. We have a God who loves us with aneverlasting love.
Jesus by His own life, death and resurrection teaches usthat we can always trust God
God bless!
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Eksik bölüm mü var?
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In the closing verses of Luke 11, Jesus was dealing withthe hypocrisy of the religious leader, but now in opening verses of Luke 12, Hewarns His disciples of a greater danger, and that is the hypocrisy of His followers.
Remember what a hypocrite is. The word hypocrite comes froma Greek word that means "an actor," "one who plays a part."There are hypocrites in every walk of life, people who try to impress others inorder to hide their real selves. In the Christian life, a hypocrite is somebodywho tries to appear more spiritual than he or she really is. These people knowthat they are pretending, and they hope they will not be found out. TheirChristian life is only a shallow masquerade.
Maybe one of the reasons that Jesus turned His attention toHis disciples in the midst of all this commotion, with an “innumerablemultitude of people” gathered around them, is that the Lord knew that theymight be tempted to either gain popularity by pleasing the crowds, or to avoidtrouble by pleasing the scribes and Pharisees. All of us want people to likeus, and it seems such an easy thing to "act the part" that otherswant to see.
Jesus compared hypocrisy to leaven (yeast), something thatevery Jew would associate with evil. (See Ex. 12:15-20). Paul also used leavento symbolize sin. (See 1 Cor. 5:6-8; Gal. 5:9.) Like yeast, hypocrisy beginsvery small but grows quickly and quietly. As it grows, it infects the wholeperson. Hypocrisy does to the ego what yeast does to bread dough: it puffs itup (see 1 Cor. 4:6, 18-19; 5:2). Soon pride takes over and the person'scharacter deteriorates rapidly.
Hypocrites are people who are trying to cover up something intheir life. I have found that most hypocrites are also bitter people or guiltypeople trying to cover up their sin. They are people who have “failed thegrace of God.” In other words, God gave them grace to deal with their hurtthat caused their bitterness. Or their sin that has caused their guilt.
We are instructed in Hebrews 12:14-15 to: “Pursue peacewith all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: lookingcarefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root ofbitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled”. Hypocritesare trying to cover up their sin and bitterness and are troublemakers. And theadded tragedy is that it spreads and “defiles” those around them.
The greatest obstacle between a sinner and the Savior is usuallya hypocrite, a Christian who has one foot in the church and one in the world.That is why Jesus gave this warning to the Laodicean church in Revelation3:15-17: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wishyou were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold norhot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, 'I am rich, have becomewealthy, and have need of nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched,miserable, poor, blind, and naked”.
Jesus would rather that we not even claim to be a Christian,“cold”, or be on fire as one, “hot”, thanto be a “lukewarm” one, in the middle. Like the Laodiceans, hypocrites becomedeceived, thinking they are rich, wealthy, and have no needs. That is why lostpeople often say, “I would go to church, but there are too many hypocritesthere”. And the sad thing is that in most cases they are right.
In verses 2-3, Jesus goes on to say that hypocrisy isfoolish and futile. Why? Because nothing can really be hidden. This is anotherway of saying, “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). Thesin of hypocrisy will one day be uncovered. Hypocrites with be exposed sooneror later. The real person will come to the surface. This is not good news forpoliticians, religious hypocrites, and others who prey on people by their pretending.
May the Lord help us humble ourselves, confess our sins,find forgiveness, give forgiveness, and be real!
God bless!
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Luke 12:1
1 In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of peoplehad gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say toHis disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,which is hypocrisy.
Today, before we begin looking into Luke 12, I want to giveyou a special invitation to join me and my son, Jonathan Grooms, the presidentof Global Partners in Peace and Development, for an unforgettable journeythrough Jordan & Egypt on a special tour we have planned for this fall, October14-25, 2025! We will experience seeingand walking through the lands where Jacob wrestled with God, where Moses ledhis people out of Egypt and through the wilderness, where Mary, Joseph andJesus sought refuge.
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Now back to Luke! You might have noticed that we didn’tfinish the last two verses of Luke 11. After Jesus’ scathing rebuke and condemnationupon the Pharisees and the Lawyers, it appears instead of repenting and seekingHis mercy, they were overcome with rage and anger. Hypocrites do not want theirsins exposed; it hurts their reputation. They deliberately began to attack Himwith "catch questions" in hopes they could trap Him in some heresyand then arrest Him. What a disgraceful way to treat the Son of God.
Verse 53 says: “The Lawyers and the Pharisees began toassail Him vehemently”. I can only imagine that they are shouting andyelling at Him very loudly! There was already a crowd outside and maybe Jesusis trying to leave the house with His disciples, but the commotion is so loudthat the crowd grows larger so that, according to Luke 12:1, they are tramplingupon one another.
We are not sure where Jesus was at this time but according toLuke 9:51, He had set His face to go to Jerusalem and it appears that He wassomewhere in the region of Samaria that was between Galilee and the city ofJerusalem. Remember also at this time, Jesus has been ministering and healingpeople for over three years. Hundreds and most likely thousands of blind peoplehave received their sight, the lame and sick have been healed, and hungry peoplehave been miraculously fed! The crowds want to see more miracles and they arecurious with all the commotion going on.
Yet with all this happening, Jesus turns His attention toHis disciples and warns them to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, whichis hypocrisy”. Not only can the religious leaders have a problem with hypocrisy,but the close followers of Jesus can face the same temptation. If we are not careful,we can become “pretenders” trying to get people to think better of us than wereally are.
May the Lord help us today to heed His warning of hypocrisyin our own lives.
God bless!
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52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did notenter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."
Luke 11 finishes with Jesus giving a personal, up-close,scathing word of rebuke and declaration of condemnation and judgment upon the religiousleaders of His day. He pronounced three “woes” upon the Pharisees and their hypocrisy,and three “woes” upon the lawyers who were the religious “experts” interpretingthe Law of Moses for the people.
That is why verse 45, tells us that after Jesus spoke His wordsto the Pharisees, the lawyer said, "Teacher, by saying these things Youreproach us also." The Pharisees believed, and were supposedly practicingall the traditional teachings of these lawyers. This opened the door for Jesusto condemn these lawyers too. I’m convinced that the false teachers of the Wordof God will receive the greater condemnation on judgment day from God. We needto know how to identify them and avoid them.
First in verse 46, they don’t practice what they teach.They put a “religious works” burdens on others that they ignore themselves.Secondly, in verse 47-51, they glorify the Old Testament prophets as they attemptto identify with them so that they will appear to be authentic. They appear toknow the Bible better than anyone else. And third, in verse 52, they claim becauseof that, they are the only ones who can properly interpret the Scriptures. The internetand social media are full of these false teachers today! Beware!
These “lawyers” that Jesus was condemning were guilty ofrobbing the common people of the knowledge of the Word of God. It was badenough that they would not enter the kingdom themselves, but they werehindering others from going in! It is a serious thing to teach God's Word andnot everyone is supposed to do it (James 3:1). Unfortunately, what some peoplecall "Bible study" is too often just a group of unprepared peopleexchanging their ignorance.
The lawyers had convinced the people that nobody couldunderstand and explain the Law except the trained and authorized teachers. Wehave some of that arrogant attitude showing itself today. Teachers whooveremphasize the Bible languages give people the impression that the HolySpirit cannot teach anyone who does not know Greek and Hebrew. We need toalways remember that Jesus is the key to the Scriptures (Luke 24:44-48).
When you take away that key, you cannot understand what Godhas written. As helpful and necessary as theological studies are, the mostimportant requirements for Bible study are a yielded heart and an obedientwill. Jesus said in John 7:17: “If anyone wants to do His will, he shallknow concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on Myown authority.” In John 14:21 Jesussaid: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. Andhe who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifestMyself to him."
The best Bible teachers are men and women who learned thetruth of God's Word on their knees and on the battlefield of life. They wereSpirit-taught, not man-taught. Jesus told His disciples in John 16:13-14: “However,when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; forHe will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak;and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take ofwhat is Mine and declare it to you.” A Spirit led Bible teacher will alwaysglorify Jesus and not himself.
So serious is this danger of false teachers that Jesus willhave more to say about it in Luke 12:1. (Also read 2 Peter 2-3)
Meanwhile, let us beware!
God bless!
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In this passage, Luke 11:42-52, as a guest, in the veryhouse of a Pharisee, Jesus courageously exposes the hypocrisy of the religiousleaders of His day, the Pharisees and lawyers. Jesus is making it very clearthat there is no room for hypocrites in the church, especially in the pulpitand in the church leaders. Jesus is not only exposing them, but He is declaringcondemnation and judgment upon them with these six “woe” pronouncements. Threewere for the Pharisees and three were for the lawyers. The first three"woes" denounce the Pharisees for their wrong priorities.
In verse 42, the Pharisees were careful about tithing eventhe tiny leaves and seeds from the herbs, but they forgot about importantthings like justice and love (Micah 6:7-8). They majored on the minors! Jesusdid not say they should stop tithing but that they should put their religiousactivities into proper perspective.
In verse 43, Jesus points out that they also put reputationabove character. They thought that sitting in the right seats and beingacknowledged by the right people would make them spiritual. Reputation is whatpeople think we are; character is what God knows we are.
But it was the comparison Jesus made in Luke 11:44, thatmust have infuriated the host and the other Pharisees who were present. TheJews had to be especially careful about ceremonial defilement from dead bodies(Num. 19:11-22; note especially v. 16), so they made sure the graves werecarefully marked. But the Pharisees were like unmarked graves that did not looklike graves at all! This meant that they were unconsciously defiling otherswhen they thought they were helping them become holier! Instead of helpingpeople, the Pharisees were harming them.
In verse 45, the lawyers felt the sting of our Lord's wordsand tried to defend themselves. Jesus used three vivid illustrations inanswering them: burdens, tombs, and keys. The lawyers were good at adding tothe burdens of the people, but they had no heart for helping them carry thoseburdens. What a tragedy when "ministers" of God's Word create moreproblems for people who already have problems enough! Jesus might have hadthese "religious burdens" in mind when He gave the graciousinvitation recorded in Matthew 11:28-30.
The scribes were also good at "embalming" thepast and honoring the prophets who had been martyred by the religiousestablishment to which they belonged. Both Bible history and church historyreveal that true servants of God are usually rejected by the people who mostneed their ministry, but the next generation will come along and honor thesepeople. The Pharisees were like "hidden graves," but the lawyersbuilt elaborate tombs!
The first recorded martyrdom in the Old Testament is thatof Abel, and the last is that of Zechariah (see Gen. 4:1-15; 2 Chron. 24:20-27).Jesus did not suggest that the scribes and Pharisees were personallyresponsible for killing the Old Testament prophets. Rather, He was affirmingthat people just like the scribes and Pharisees did these terrible things toGod's servants. Their ultimate crime would be the crucifixion of the Son ofGod.
You can only imagine the tension that is in the room atthis point. But the lesson for us today is very clear: Jesus has no patiencefor hypocrisy in religious leaders or even in any of us!
God bless!
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As we look at this passage in Luke 11:37-54, we need to rememberthe setting Jesus was in where He is declaring judgment, the six “woes”, uponthe Pharisees and religious lawyers, who are also called scribes. In verse 35, Jesushad just made the public statement, “Therefore take heed that the lightwhich is in you is not darkness.” It was then that a Pharisee invited Jesusto come into his house and dine with him. He was hoping to catch Jesus sayingor doing something so that he could accuse Him of breaking the Law of Moses andthen he could expose Jesus as a false prophet or teacher.
This morning, I couldn’t help but think how that Jesus notonly accepted the invitation, but when He is in this Pharisee’s house sittingat this meal with him that Jesus pronounces these stinging words of judgmentupon all the Pharisees. When Jesus didn’t wash His hands before He ate, thePharisee immediately was thinking that if Jesus was a true prophet he would nothave broken the Law of Moses and traditional teaching of the lawyers.
It is then that the Lord gives this message exposing the hypocrisyof the religious leaders of His day. The religious Pharisees and lawyers claimedto have the truth and the light of God because of their “knowledge” of the OldTestament Scriptures. But they needed to “take heed” that the light they haveis not darkness”. In Jesus first recorded message in Matthew 6:23, He said, “Butif your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore thelight that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
We should take heed also! The greatest darkness is a “religious”darkness. To be deceived into thinking and believing that our religion of gooddeeds of “righteousness” that we can do, will save us. Remember what Paul wrotein Romans 10:1-4: “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israelis that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal forGod, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God'srighteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have notsubmitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law forrighteousness to everyone who believes.”
Religion and Bible knowledge without Jesus Christ is what thePharisees of both Jesus’ and Paul’s day had as they sought “to establish theirown righteousness”. What a powerfulmessage for us today! We can know the Bible forward and backward and attempt tokeep it in our own way and strength, and think we are “right” with God. Paulwould also write in 2 Corinthians 3:6: “Who also made us sufficient asministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for theletter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Yes, trying to keep “letter ofthe Law” in our own strength brings both deception and death.
There is no greater deception than religious and self-deception!In James 1, we are warned about this kind of deception in several verses. Jamessays this kind of religion is empty, vain, useless! This is basically a warningto believers who have the Bible but are not practicing the love of God in caringfor the poor, helpless, widows and orphans. We look into the mirror of God’s Word,but we refuse to clean up the inside and we become hypocrites and at the sametime think that we are “right” with God.
A good verse to end with today is found in 2 Corinthians5:21: “For He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, thatwe might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Let’s make sure we aretrusting in a personal relationship with Jesus and His salvation and His imputedrighteousness and not an outward religion of “right” deeds and good works!
God bless!
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44 Woe to you, scribes andPharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the menwho walk over them are not aware of them."
From Luke 11:37 to the end of the chapter Jesus is dealingwith the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, scribes, and the lawyers (who were supposedto be the experts in interpreting the Law of Moses). Many Christians today aregreatly concerned about the rising influences of socialism, humanism,secularism, and social injustice. Yet those evils, great as they are, do nottogether pose the threat to Christianity that the so-called-Christians, who arereally hypocrites, and the false shepherds and pastors do.
Throughout the history of redemption, the greatest threatto God's truth and God's work has been false prophets and teachers, becausethey propose to speak in His name. That is why the Lord's most scathingdenunciations were reserved for the false teachers of Israel, who claimed tospeak and act for God but were liars. Take the time to read Matthew 23 wherethe writer gives even a more detailed description of our Lord’s words ofjudgment upon the hypocrites.
In both Luke 11:37-54 and Matthew 23, Jesus uses the word hypocriteas a synonym for scribe and for Pharisee. He calls them sons of hell, blindguides, fools, robbers, self-indulgent, whitewashed tombs, full of hypocrisyand lawlessness, serpents, vipers, and persecutors and murderers of God'speople. He uttered every syllable with absolute self-control but withdevastating intensity.
The word hypocrite often referred to actors in a play. Someonewho played the part of someone else. Later it came to mean deceitful pretense,the putting on of a false front. It was also used to describe pretendedgoodness, that is simply for show. A hypocrite is someone pretending to be onething on the outside that he or she is not on the inside.
In both Matthew 23 and Luke 11, Jesus repeatedly used twowords, woe and hypocrites. Woe is a word to express grief, despair,sorrow, dissatisfaction, pain, and fear of losing one's life. In the NewTestament it is used to speak of sorrow and of judgment, carrying the mingledideas of punishment and pity, cursing and compassion. But Jesus used woeagainst the scribes and Pharisees not as an exclamation but as a declaration, adivine pronouncement of judgment from God.
Here in Luke 11, Jesus denounced the sins of the Phariseesand called them hypocrites with six "woes". Jesus started with thesins of the Pharisees (Luke 11:42-44) and then turned to the sins of the lawyers,for it was their interpretations of the Law that formed the basis for the wholePharisaical system (Luke 11:45-52).
The Pharisees boasted of their giving (Matt. 6:1-4; Luke18:11-12), but they did not give what was within to the Lord. The way to makethe outside pure is to make the inside pure (Luke 11:41). Kenneth Wuesttranslates this verse, "Rather, the things which are inside give as alms,and behold, all things are clean to you". The way to clean up a dirtyvocabulary is not to brush your teeth but to cleanse your heart.
In the first three "woes" denounce the Phariseesfor their wrong priorities. They were careful about tithing even the tinyleaves and seeds from the herbs, but they forgot about important things likejustice and love (Micah 6:7-8). They majored on the minors! Jesus did not saythey should stop tithing but that they should put their religious activitiesinto proper perspective.
Today, if we are not careful, we easily become hypocritesby our outward religious acts while inside we harbor covetousness, greed, anger,bitterness and unforgiveness. The Lord wants our hearts before He wants ourgifts and service. While people look on our outside, God is looking in ourhearts.
What does He see in your heart today?
God bless!
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From Luke 11:37 to the end of the chapter Jesus is dealingwith the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, scribes, and the lawyers (who were supposedto be the experts in interpreting the Law of Moses). At this stage in Christ'sministry, it is obvious that the Pharisees and religious leaders were bent ondestroying Him. In the previous verses (vv. 33-36), Jesus was exposing thedarkness of their hearts. Their hearts were so dark that they refused to acceptthe very Light of God that was in their midst.
It is reasonable to believe that this “certain Pharisee”invited Jesus to his home for a meal with a devious motive. If he had beensincerely seeking truth, he would have talked with our Lord privately. It seemsobvious that he was looking for an opportunity to accuse Jesus. And sure enough,when Jesus did not practice the ceremonial washing before eating, he thought hehad it (Mark 7:2-3). Jesus, knowing what the host was thinking, responded bygiving a "spiritual analysis" of the Pharisees.
A good title for today’s chat would be “Truth or Tradition”.You might remember years ago that there was a popular television program called“Truth or Consequences”, hosted by Bob Barker. Jesus exposed the darkness oftheir hearts with the truth. If you want to know or recognize what a lie is,you must know what the truth is. I’m convinced the main reason we have majorissues in so many areas of culture and society today in America is that very fewpeople have any idea what the truth is anymore.
The truth is only found in a Person, Jesus Christ, and HisWord (John 14:6). When we ignorant ofthe Truth or we reject it after we are exposed to it, we have no choice but tobelieve the lie. That is why Jesus said to the Pharisees and religious leadersin John 8:44-47: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of yourfather you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not standin the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaksfrom his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because Itell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And ifI tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God'swords; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."
It is interesting to note that in the above passage the Phariseeresponded to this stinging rebuke by saying: “Then the Jews answered andsaid to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have ademon?" (John 8:48). This is whatalways happens when truth is rejected. Maybe Jesus had this verse from Isaiah5:20 in mind when He was exposing these Pharisees: “Woe to those who callevil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
In verses 39-40, Jesus exposed the basic error and thinkingof the Pharisees which was that righteousness was only a matter of externalactions, and they minimized internal attitudes. They were very careful to keepthe outside clean, but they ignored the wickedness within. They seemed toforget that the same God who created the outside also created the inside, the"inner person" that also needs cleansing (Ps. 51:6, 10).
Jesus called them, “foolish ones”, another way of saying “senselessones”. They lost their sense, their ability to reason in a sensible way. Today,in many of our churches we have done the same thing when we chose our traditionover the Truth of God’s Word. I’m afraid many of our churches today are full ofhypocritical Pharisees, and often the biggest ones are the pastors and leaders.They refuse to make any changes in their methods or music to reach a lost worldbecause of their old “traditions”. They are afraid that grandpa and grandma whoare buried in the cemetery behind the church will get upset!
Today, I trust we will choose Jesus over our manmadetraditions and share His love with everyone we can!
God bless!
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It is very interesting to note that we are introduced todarkness and light in the very first verses in the Bible. Right after we aretold; “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis1:1), we read; “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was onthe face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of thewaters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. AndGod saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from thedarkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So theevening and the morning were the first day” (Genesis 1:2-5).
The very first creative act of God on earth was to speak lightinto existence, and we are introduced to the truth and concept that “God sawthe light, that it was good” (v. 4). This statement then leads us tobelieve that just as light is good, darkness is bad. God created the human eyeto only operate while light is present. You can’t see anything in the darkness.When Adam sinned, Satan’s kingdom of darkness invaded both the human soul andthe earth itself. When we are born into this world, we are literal called the “childrenof wrath” because of our sin nature (Ephesians 3:1-3).
In Ephesians 5:8-11, Paul goes on to tell us: “For youwere once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children oflight (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, andtruth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship withthe unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” When we trust Jesus as the True Light and acceptHim as our Lord and Savior, something wonderful takes place according to Colossians1:13-14 which declares: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness andconveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemptionthrough His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
When we trust Jesus Christ, our eyes are opened, the lightshines in, and we become children of light (John 8:12; 2 Cor. 4:3-6; Eph.5:8-14). The important thing is that we take advantage of the light and have asingle outlook of faith. If we keep one eye on the things of God and the othereye on the world (1 John 2:16), the light will turn into darkness! There is no"twilight living" for the Christian, for God demands total submissionand obedience (Luke 11:23).
Three men in the Bible illustrate this truth. They began inthe light and ended up in the darkness because they were double-minded. Thename Samson probably means "sunny," yet he ended up a blind slave ina dark dungeon because he yielded to the "lust of the flesh" (Judges16). Lot began as a pilgrim with his uncle Abraham. He ended as a drunk in acave, committing incest (Genesis 19:30-38), because he yielded to "thelust of the eyes" (Gen. 13:10-11). Lot wanted to serve two masters andlook in two directions! King Saul began his reign as a humble leader but hispride led him to a witch's cave (1 Samuel 28), and he died of suicide on thefield of battle (1 Samuel 31). His sin was "the pride of life"; hewould not humble himself and obey the will of God.
Each of us is controlled either by light or darkness. Thefrightening thing is that some people have so hardened themselves against theLord that they cannot tell the difference! They think they are following thelight when, in reality, they are following the darkness. The scribes andPharisees claimed to "see the light" as they studied the Law, butthey were living in the darkness (John 9:39-41).
In John 12:35-36; 46, Jesus said: "A little whilelonger the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darknessovertake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. Whileyou have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light…”. “Ihave come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should notabide in darkness.”
Today, is your life “full of His Light”?
God bless!
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After Jesus gave His lessons on prayer (vv. 1-13), He casta demon out of a mute man, and even though the “multitudes marveled” (v.14), the religious leaders accused Him of doing it “by Beelzebub” (v. 15),another way of saying, “by Satan”. They also “tested Him” and ask for a “signfrom heaven (v. 16). Instead of giving them a sign, Jesus gave them a sermon. Jesushad been giving them “miracles” or “signs” over the past three years, and theystill rejected Him. Signs are soon forgotten and only bred a craving for more!
Basically, Jesus said we don’t need a sign, we have theBook, and He gave them the stories of Jonah and Solomon.
Jesus follows up with this proclamation with anillustration of the light of a candle on a lampstand that gives light toeveryone who come into the room (vv. 33-36). You might remember that in thefirst recorded message that we have of Jesus in Matthew 5-7, He gave this sameillustration. "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eyeis good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, yourwhole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you isdarkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23).
When light comes into a room the darkness immediately isgone. Darkness never conquers the light. By its very nature, light “overcomesthe darkness”. John 1:1-5 teaches us that God, the Word, and Jesus are indeedthe Light of the world: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word waswith God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All thingswere made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Himwas life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in thedarkness, and the darkness did not comprehend (overcome) it.”
In John 6:5, Jesus declared, “I Am the Light of the world”.God is declared to be Light in 1 John 1:5-7: “This is the message which wehave heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is nodarkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk indarkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light asHe is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of JesusChrist His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Light and darkness cannot co-exist! You either have one orthe other. Jesus the Living Word is the Light on the Lampstand. He is the Lightthat gives us light and life! God has given us the Commandments and the Lawlike a switch to expose the darkness of our sin and souls. Proverbs 6:23 says; “Forthe commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are theway of life”. Psalm 119:130 tells us: “The entrance of Your words giveslight; It gives understanding to the simple.”
Religion without a relationship with Christ Jesus is afalse light that only allows more darkness! The religious leaders refused tocome to the Light of Christ because of their evil, deceitful hearts. Jesus saidit this way in John 3:19-21, “And this is the condemnation, that the lighthas come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, becausetheir deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and doesnot come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does thetruth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they havebeen done in God."
The psalmist reminds us in Psalm 11:105: “Your word is alamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Today we have a choice, we caneither walk in the Light or we can stumble around in the darkness! Proverbs4:18-19: “But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines everbrighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; They donot know what makes them stumble.”
May the Lord help us today to “walk in the Light”though His Word.
God bless!
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When we come to Luke 11:28-32, it appears that Jesus has finishedHis lessons on the subject of prayer and a crowd of both curious people and contentiousreligious leaders have “thickly gathered together” around Him and His disciples. It appears at the point thecrowd really begins to press in upon Jesus on every side and then He gives thema message of condemnation and judgement (vv. 29-36).
Jesus was not impressed by the big crowds, but most likely,the disciples were. And because Jesus knew what was in their hearts of thereligious leaders and the crowd, in order to keep the Twelve from being swayedby "success," Jesus gave them some insights into what was reallyhappening as they ministered the Word to the large crowds of people thatsurrounded them. He reveals the unbelief of their hearts despite the signs thatHe had already given them over the past three years of His ministry in Galilee.
Like so many people today who say, “Show me a miracle and Iwill believe”, the Jewish leaders kept asking Jesus for a sign to prove that Hewas the Messiah. The only sign He promised was "the sign of Jonah theprophet." What was the sign of Jonah? What was his story? Remember he disobeyGod’s command to go to Nineveh and went the opposite direction to Tarshish. Godpunished him by putting him the belly of whale for three days and three nights.He repented and went to Nineveh with a message of coming judgement, and theyrepented. How interesting that Jonah was as displeased by the repentance ofNineveh as the religious leaders of the Lord's generation were at therepentance of people in all parts of the country!
Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites. He had been three daysand nights in what he called "the belly of hell." When he marchedthrough their streets, it was with a face livid and terrifying from the fierceaction of the gastric juices of the great fish. The man himself was as much themessage as the words that he proclaimed; he was a sign. "God will punishsin!" It was written all over the disobedient prophet. But there he was,alive from the dead, a living epistle. They could infer from that the fact that"God will pardon sinners."
But Jonah was also a sign of the coming death, burial andresurrection of Jesus Christ! This is the greatest sign given by “a greaterthan Jonah”, Jesus Christ! It is the resurrection of our Lord that proves He isthe Messiah, the Son of God (Rom. 1:4), and this is what Peter preached toIsrael on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:22ff). The witness of the early churchwas centered on Christ's resurrection (Acts 1:22; 3:15; 5:30-32; 13:32-33).Jonah was a living miracle and so is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus also reminded them of Solomon and the “Queen of theSouth”. The emphasis here is on the wisdom of a king, not the works of aprophet. The Queen of Sheba traveled many miles to hear the wisdom of Solomon(1 Kings 10), but here was the very Son of God in their midst, and the Jewswould not believe His words! Even if Jesus had performed a sign, it would nothave changed their hearts. They needed the living wisdom of God, but they werecontent with their stale religious tradition. When Jonah preached to theGentiles in Nineveh, they repented and were spared. When a Gentile queen heardSolomon's wisdom, she marveled and believed. If, with all their privileges, theJews did not repent, then the people of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba wouldbear witness against them in the last judgment. The Lord gave Israel so manyopportunities, yet they would not believe (Luke 13:34-35; John 12:35-41).
Today, we have the complete Bible, and the historical factsof the resurrection of Jesus Christ, yet still so many chose their sins andreligion over believing and putting their faith in Jesus Christ. How great willtheir condemnation and judgment be?
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23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does notgather with Me scatters.
So far in Luke 11, Jesus has given us the pattern ofprayer (vv. 1-4). He tells a story and emphasizes the persistence ofprayer (vv. 5-8). He has encouraged us with a great promise of prayer. Ourheavenly Father will give us the good gifts of the Holy Spirit when weask in prayer (vv. 9-13). And Jesus illustrated the power of prayer asHe cast a demon out of a mute man (vv. 14-22).
Now in Luke 11:23-28, Jesus is going to give us a lesson onthe position of prayer. In this passage Jesus is teaching us that wemust choose whose side we are on. I believe that from these verses that welearn that prayer is a part of choosing sides and putting us in the position ofbeing on the Lord’s side!
In verses 15-22, Jesus was accused by the hypocriticalreligious leaders of casting out demons by the power of Satan. Jesus respondedby reminding them that a kingdom or a house that is divided against itself willbe destroyed and cannot stand. He also likened Satan to a strong man who isguarding the “spoils” in his house but that he can be stripped of his defense, “hisarmor”, by a Stronger Man. And then his spoils can be taken from him.
When we pray, we are engaging in “spiritual warfare”. Ourprayers can bind Satan and strip him of his defense and his power and then wecan release those who have been captured by him. 2 Timothy 2:26 speaks of theseprecious souls being delivered from the devil by our Godly living and ourprayers with these words: “And that they may come to their senses and escapethe snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”
It is impossible to be neutral in this spiritual war. Jesusmakes it clear in verse 23 that we are either for Him or we are against Him.(Also see Luke 9:50). Neutrality means standing against Him. There are twospiritual forces at work in the world, and we must choose between them. Satanis scattering and destroying, but Jesus Christ is gathering and building. Wemust make a choice, and if we choose to make no choice, we are really choosingagainst Him.
Jesus illustrated the danger of neutrality by telling thestory of the man and the demon. The man's body was the demon's"house" (Luke 11:24, and note vv. 17 and 21). For some unknownreason, the demonic tenant decided to leave his "house" and goelsewhere. The man's condition improved immediately, but the man did not inviteGod to come and dwell within. In other words, the man remained neutral. Whathappened? The demon returned with seven other demons worse than himself, andthe man's condition was abominable.
We are either going up or we are going down. When I wasgetting my pilot’s license, I learned very quickly that you can’t park a planein the air. The moment you stop, you are going down! Any dead fish can float downstream,but it takes a live one to swim upstream. We are either getting closer to theLord every day or we are drifting further away from Him. I’ve always picturedthe “narrow way that leads to life” right in the middle of the “broadpath that leads to destruction”, except it is going in the oppositedirection. That is why is so difficult to live the Christian life in this oldworld we are in.
In verses 27-28, we learn that taking sides with Jesusmeans much more than saying the right things, like the woman who cried, "Blessedis the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!" She wascertainly sincere, but that was not enough. We take sides with Jesus Christwhen we hear His Word and obey it (see Luke 6:46-49; 8:19-21). Praying Biblicalprayers is applying God’s Word to our attitudes and actions and give us the powerto do God’s will! Praying puts us in the position of being on the Lord’s side!
Today, whose side are you on? Are you praying?
God bless!
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We are looking at this wonderful chapter in Luke 11 on thesubject of prayer. The Lord Jesus is teaching His disciples how to pray, andwhat to pray, in answer to their request to teach them to pray. As He is teachingthem, we are also learning many aspects about prayer that we should rememberevery day. First, Jesus gives us the pattern of prayer (vv. 1-4). Secondly,He tells a story of some friends and gives a great lesson on the persistenceof prayer (vv. 5-8). Third, Jesus teaches us about the great promise ofprayer (vv. 9-13).
Now in verses Luke 11:14-23, Jesus is going to give us alesson on the power of prayer, along with a live illustration as He castsa demon out of man. Jesus said that He is able to casts out demons with “thefinger of God”. Maybe the Apostle Paul was remembering this passage in Lukewhen he wrote 1 Corinthians 1:22-25: “For Jews request a sign, and Greeksseek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumblingblock and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews andGreeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishnessof God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (Alsoremember Luke was Paul’s traveling companion on his second missionary journey.Who knows all that they might have discussed as they were walking those longmiles.)
We must always remember as believers that we are facing anddealing with demonic forces and the kingdom of darkness as we on mission withJesus in this present world. Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle againstflesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulersof the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in theheavenly places.” To stand against anddefeat them we must believe in the might power of prayer and use it as a weaponto pull down demonic strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).
After Jesus cast the demon out of the mute man, thereligious leaders were there and instead of rejoicing that God had sent aRedeemer, they were rebelling against the truth of God's Word and seeking todiscredit Christ's work and character. They claimed Jesus did this in the powerof Satan. Imagine people being so blind that they could not distinguish a workof God from a work of Satan! "Beelzebub" was one of the names of thePhilistine god Baal (2 Kings 1:1-3); it means "lord of flies." TheJews often used this name when referring to Satan.
In verse 16 they “tested” Jesus by basically saying,"If you are really working for God, prove it by giving us a sign fromheaven, not just a miracle on earth." They were tempting God, which is adangerous thing to do.
Refutation (vv. 17-22). Jesus answered their charges withthree arguments. First, their accusation was illogical. Why would Satan fightagainst himself and divide his own kingdom? (Note that Jesus believed in a realdevil who has a kingdom that is strong and united. See Eph. 2:1-3; 6:10ff.)Second, their charges were self-incriminating: by what power were the Jewscasting out demons? How do their works differ from Christ's works? On thecontrary, Christ's miracles show that the kingdom of God is present, not thekingdom of Satan!
Finally, their accusation was really an admission of Hispower, for He could not defeat Satan unless He were stronger than Satan. Jesuspictured Satan as a strong man in armor, guarding his palace and his goods. ButJesus invaded Satan's territory, destroyed his armor and weapons, and claimedhis spoils! (see John 12:31-33; Colossians 2:15; 1 John 3:8). Though he ispermitted limited authority, Satan is a defeated enemy. My friend, we should alwaysremember, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, becauseHe who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
Today, we should be exercising the mighty power of prayer!
God bless!
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In Luke 11:1-13, the Lord is not only teaching Hisdisciples about prayer, but He is also giving us some powerful incentives tolearn to pray. I’mconvinced that the best way to learn to be good at anything in life is to workat it, to be disciplined to practice the same thing over and over again. I’m saying allthis to say, the best way to learn to pray is to pray! To pray daily andcontinuously. This is what the above verses in Luke 11:9-13 are about.
First, the Lord gives us the pattern of prayer (vv.1-4). Secondly, He gives the persistence of prayer (vv. 5-8). Now Jesusis giving us the promise of prayer (vv. 9-13). After Jesus tells thestory or parable of the friend who is asking his neighbor friend at midnightfor three loaves of bread for his tired and weary friend who has showed up athis house unexpectedly, you might get the idea that our heavenly Father isreluctant to answer our prayers, and we have pester Him to get His attention.But with what the Lord says in these next verses, should put that wrongconclusion to rest. Our Father is heaven is not a reluctant Giver, He is aready Giver.
I love verse 9, "So I say to you, ask, and it willbe given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”The tenses of the verbs are important here: "Keep on asking... keep onseeking... keep on knocking." In other words, don't come to God only inthe midnight emergencies, but keep in constant communion with your Father.Jesus called this "abiding" (John 15:1-18), and Paul exhorted,"Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). As we pray, God willeither answer or show us why He cannot answer. Then it is up to us to dowhatever is necessary in our lives so that the Father can trust us with theanswer.
The main thing about prayer is not getting what we want or need,but true prayer is first and foremost about communion with our holy heavenly Father!Spending time in His presence! God’s delays are not always His denials. Maybe Hehas noticed that the only time we spend time praying is when we desperatelyneed something, and He enjoys our asking so much, and our attitude ofdependence upon Him, that He waits to answer so we will learn to spend moretime with Him!
We can’t help but notice that this lesson on prayer closesagain with the emphasis on God as Father (vv. 11-13). Because He knows us andloves us, we never need to be afraid of the answers that He gives. Again, Jesusargued from the lesser to the greater: if an earthly father gives what is bestto his children, surely the Father in heaven will do even more. Here we arealso impressed with the “simplicity of prayer”. We come to our heavenly Fatherin childlike faith. When a baby or a child cries, the mother instinctively interpretsthat cry and knows the need of the child. The child is hungry and needs milk,or needs a diaper change, or just needs assurance of love and wants to bepicked up! Our Father in heaven knowshow to interpret our cries in prayer and knows what our need is even before weask!
If our human father knows how to give us good things whenwe ask, “how much more” does our heavenly Father know how to give us goodthings. In these verses we are reminded of our heavenly Father’s goodness, Hisgenerosity, and His greatness! The greatest gift first given to the earlydisciples was called, “the Promise of the Father which you heard from Me”(Acts 1:4). We are also heirs of this same “Promise” which is the “gift of theHoly Spirit”.
According to Matthew 7:11, I believe this means that I am continuouslyasking and receiving from my heavenly Father “all the good things” that comewith the Holy Spirit who now lives inside of me as a believer! (Ephesians3:14-19).
Have you ever received the “Promise Gift of the Holy Spirit”?
God bless!
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In Luke 11:1-13, Jesus is teaching us how to pray. One forthe first things we should learn about prayer is that it is based on ourrelationship with God. Creation and our conscience declare to us that there isa God in heaven. That there is a Designer behind the design. But we need morethan an intellectual knowledge of God, we need a relationship with Him. Becausesin has separated us from God, we are empty inside our souls without this relationship.
Religion of any kind cannot fill this void. Matter of fact,it is a false substitute that often keeps us from knowing God personally. Weare deceived into thinking that because we have a religion and go to church,preforming ceremonies and rituals, and doing good humanitarian deeds for othersthat this should satisfy God and give us entrance to heaven. But if we arehonest and admit it, we are still empty inside and know that something is missing.
Jesus makes it very clear in John 14:6, that He is “theWay, the Truth, and the Life, and that no one can come to the Father except throughHim.” Now my friend, either Jesus is Who He said He is, or as C.S. Lewissaid, "Christ either deceived mankind by conscious fraud, or He wasHimself deluded and self-deceived, or He was Divine.” In his book MereChristianity, C.S. Lewis famously said, “Jesus is either a lunatic, a liar, orLord.”
Lewis chose to believe that Jesus is Divine, and I do too.
Religion of any kind never saved anyone, only Jesus can.His very name means Savior (Matthew 1:21). He is the Perfect Lamb of God Whocame to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). In 1 Peter 1:18-19, Scripturemakes it very clear that traditional religion with its ceremonies and rituals cannotpay the price for our sin or remove it from us. “Knowing that you were notredeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimlessconduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood ofChrist, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
In the above passage in Luke 11:5-10, right after Jesusspeaks of our relationship with “Our Father”, He tells the story of a friend,who had a hungry friend without “bread”, who on his journey has come to him at midnight.But he knew he also had a “Friend”, Who had plenty of bread. As we saidyesterday, for sure this story is teaching us the “persistence of prayer” thatis needed to receive God’s provisions. But I also believe it also teaches usanother great lesson on about “Praying for Bread for our friends”.
We have friends who are on their journey of life, and ithas become “midnight” for their soul. They are hungry, thirsty, tired, weary,empty, frustrated, unfulfilled, maybe confused, lost and looking for help. Theyhave come to us and are asking for help. We realize we don’t have anything togive them. Jesus said, “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Butwe know we have a Friend, Jesus, Who is the “Bread of Life” and we can ask Himto supply this “Bread” for our friend who is weary and hungry.
At least four times in John 6, Jesus proclaims that He isthe “Bread of Life”. “And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread oflife. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Meshall never thirst” (v. 35). “The Jews then complained about Him,because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven"(v. 41). “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the mannain the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down fromheaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread whichcame down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; andthe bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of theworld" (vv. 48-51).
Have you been praying for this “Bread” to give to yourfriends who are seeking for life? Maybe this is also why Jesus taught us topray, “Give us this day our daily bread”, not only for ourselves, but forour friends who desperately need Jesus, not a religion.
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The Lord is responding to the disciple’s question to teachthem to pray. Jesus first gives them a lesson on the pattern of prayer andbegins it with the words, “Our Father”. One for the first things we shouldlearn about prayer is that it is based on our relationship with God. We havethe privilege and honor of prayer because we are sons and daughters in Hisfamily by being “born again” through salvation in Jesus Christ. We should alwayspicture prayer as children coming to a loving, giving, and kind father who delightsin our dependance upon him.
In Luke 11:5-10, it is like the Lord is now taking Hisdisciples up several grades, from elementary and middle school to high school. Hedoes this by telling the story of some friends. In this lesson, the Lord isteaching the disciples, and us, that not only do we have a relationship withGod as “Our Father”, but that we can also picture God as our friend who caresabout us. And in His story of these three friends, He is teaching the disciplesand us the importance of persistence in prayer.
In this story, Jesus did not say that God is like thisgrouchy neighbor. In fact, He said just the opposite. If a tired and selfishneighbor finally meets the needs of a bothersome friend, how much more will aloving Heavenly Father meet the needs of His own dear children! He is arguingfrom the lesser to the greater. If we intend to do much through prayer we musthave some endurance. We must persist in our praying, never quit, be steadfastregardless of circumstances. If we quit after praying once because nothinghappened, we will never experience answers to our prayers like we should.
There are three friends in this story. There is a friendwho is on a journey. There is a friend who is without bread for this friend whois on a journey. Then there is a friend who has plenty of bread but is at home asleepwith his family. How do you know someone is a true friend? You can tell by theirattitude and actions toward you that they genuinely care about you and theneeds you might have in your life or family.
The argument in this story is clear: If persistence finallypaid off as a man beat on the door of a reluctant friend, how much more wouldpersistence bring blessing as we pray to a loving Heavenly Father! After all,we are the children in the house with Him!
The word translated “persistence”, ("importunity"in OKJ), means "shamelessness" or "avoidance of shame." Itcan refer to the man at the door who was not ashamed to wake up his friend, butit can also refer to the friend in the house. Hospitality to friends and even tostrangers is a basic law in the East (Gen. 18). If a person refused toentertain a guest, it could bring disgrace on the whole village. The man in thehouse knew this and did not want to embarrass himself, his family, or hisvillage; so he got up and met the need on the friend on a journey. And so didthe friend who had plenty of bread!
Why does our Father in heaven answer prayer? Not just tomeet the needs of His children, but to meet them in such a way that it bringsglory to His name. "Hallowed be Thy name." When God's peoplepray, God's reputation is at stake. The way He takes care of His children is awitness to the world that He can be trusted. Phillips Brooks said that prayeris not overcoming God's reluctance; it is laying hold of His highest willingness.Persistence in prayer is not an attempt to change God's mind ("Thy will bedone") but to get ourselves to the place where He can trust us with theanswer. God’s first no does not always mean it is His final no. It might mean “wait”.We will study more about this tomorrow.
Today, we need to learn that God is not only our Father,but He is our friend, who has “plenty of bread” for our every need and we shouldnever give up on approaching Him with our request!
God bless!
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So far we have learned from the Lord’s teachings on prayerin this passage in Luke 11, that prayer concerns our Father’s presence, ourFather's purpose, our Father’s provision, our Father’s pardon, and our Father’sprotection. I couldn’t help but notice that before we pray for His protection asbelievers, we should have the assurance that we have our own sins forgiven,which only comes because we have forgiven “everyone” who wronged, sinned, hurt,or offended us.
This is crucial if we are going to be able to expect theFather to protect us from the attacks of the evil one. Unconfessed sin in ourlives become a “stronghold” of Satan in our minds and hearts. Those strongholdscan only be destroyed by the mighty weapons of the Word of God and prayer: 2Corinthians 10:3-6 reminds us: “For though we walk in the flesh, we are notwaging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not ofthe flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy argumentsand every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take everythought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, whenyour obedience is complete.”
Did you also notice that in this basic model and pattern ofprayer we are not taught to pray for the Father to keep us from experiencing sickness,suffering, pain, or discomfort. We are not taught to pray that we won’t die.For sure, no doubt, it is not wrong to pray for our physical, mental, andemotional needs, or even for these needs in our family and friends. But farmore important than our circumstantial needs, it is clear here that the emphasisis on our character needs! We are all goingto suffer afflictions and pain and one day face death.
That is the reality of life! But we have been promised thatthe Lord will give us grace and strength to go through it all with His presenceand therefore we don’t need to worry or fear (Psalm 23:4). What is important isour faith and trust in our heavenly Father to supply for every need we have(Philippians 4:19).
We should also note that when we pray, “Do not lead usinto temptation”, that it means that the Lord is the One who might beleading us to do something wrong or evil. No, this statement is a way of sayingthat we need the Father’s protection from the solicitation of the evil one to sinor do wrong. James make it very clear that God does not tempt us with evil: “Blessedis the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he willreceive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Letno one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannotbe tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
1 John 2:16 reminds us that all temptations we face in thisworld concern three areas: “For all that is in the world--the lust of theflesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but isof the world.”
These are the same things that the Devil tempted Jesus with(Matthew 4:1-11). Peter warned us: “Be sober, be vigilant; because youradversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour”(1 Peter 5:8). Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:11-12; For we donot wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, againstpowers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hostsof wickedness in the heavenly places.”
That is why we pray for our Father’s protection against theevil one and his temptations. But we must also do our part by: “But put onthe Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill itslusts” (Romans 13:14).
If we are “drinking of the water of Life” that Jesusgives us in His Word, we not be thirsting for the dirty water from the well ofthe world (John 4:13-14). And remember Psalm 119:11: “Your word I havehidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!”
Today, are you experiencing “deliverance from the evilone”!
God bless!
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Today, before we discuss this pattern of prayer that theLord was teaching to His disciples, I need to ask all our friends to once againpray for our grandson, Luke as he is scheduled to go back into surgery thismorning at the University of Virginia Medical Center. Yesterday while at adoctor’s appointment with Luke, Kimberly noticed the place was extremelyswollen on his head where a shunt valve is located. She immediately took Luketo the hospital ED where the MRI showed that there was a lot of fluid aroundthe valve indicating something was broken.
After our visit and consultation with the doctor at theChildren’s Hospital in Boston a couple weeks ago, they had already decided if somethinglike this happened Luke would go to UVA Medical Center for his next surgery. I’mnot sure at this point exactly what time that surgery will take place thismorning, but we sure would appreciate all your special prayers for wisdom forthe surgeons and medical personnel that will be working with Luke. We areconvinced that your prayers have taken care of him this far and will continueto carry him through this time too. Again, we can’t thank you enough for yourprayers and support for Luke, Kimberly, Chris and our family during this time!
Kimberly is pretty good with keeping us all updated withher Facebook post at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/744992976946015
Today, I also want to take a couple minutes with this postto ask you to celebrate my spiritual birthday! It was on this day, 54 yearsago, February 21, 1971, at about 4 o’clock on a Sunday afternoon, in CincinnatiOhio, that the most important thing in my life happened. For several weeks Ihad been under Holy Spirit conviction for my sin and the burden and guilt ofthem had been very heavy upon me. After church that morning, I finally foundthe courage to call Dr. Harold Rawlings and ask him if I could come by his houseand talk with him.
I honestly can’t remember all the details of ourconversation except telling him that I was a wicked sinner and was going tohell. He asked, what did I want to do. I do remember breaking down weeping andsaying, “I don’t want to go to hell.” We got on our knees, and I really can’trecall what I prayed but I’ll never forget getting up and immediately experiencinga peace with God, forgiveness for my sin, and a joy I never had before. The bigempty spot down in my soul was gone and has never come back!
I recall walking out of his house feeling like for thefirst time in my life I was not walking in darkness and could see! I’ll neverever forget that day and I’m so thankful for Dr. Harold Rawlings taking thetime to be there and in his kind and gentle way lead me to my faith in JesusChrist and the cross! One of the first evidences of my salvation was that myfoul mouth was transformed. The cussing stopped immediately. With a new heart Ireceived a new mouth! It was amazing! I went to church that evening and at theend of the service I was baptized by one of the pastors named Bill Talley, (thatas a teenager I never particularly cared for). But that didn’t matter anymore!I wanted to be obedient and let the world know that Jesus saved me with this publictestimony of baptism!
As a new believer, only 19 years old, working on a constructionjob with a large group of my very ungodly and wicked men, I knew my great challengewould be dealing with the old temptations of the flesh and sin. The very first verse in the Biblethat I memorized was: 1 Corinthians 10:13
This promise assured me that no temptation would come myway that I would not be able with God’s grace to face and deal with. I am sothankful for God’s faithfulness in my life. I’m sorry to have to admit that Ihave failed the Lord many many times, but He has never failed me!
Thanks for your prayers today: (I just received word thatLuke’s surgery is scheduled for 7:30 this morning.)
God bless!
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To the best of my understanding, here in Luke 11, when thedisciples asked the Lord to teach them how to pray, this was toward the end ofHis first three years of ministry mostly in the region of Galilee. But youmight also remember in Matthew 6, on an earlier occasion at the beginning of Hisministry, as Jesus was giving one of His first recorded sermons, called the “Sermonon the Mount” or the “Beatitudes”, He also taught this model prayer both to themultitude and His disciples. So, this would be the second time that they heardit.
In the Matthew passage, the Lord gave even moreinstructions along with this prayer. On both occasions Jesus taught that we areto ask for forgiveness for our sins, which also called our debts or ourtrespasses, from our Father in heaven. I believe this model prayer is primarilygiven for those who have already been saved. We have been born again, we havebeen redeemed, we are in the family of God and that is why we begin the prayerwith “Our Father”.
Now in this prayer, as believers, we are told to keep shortaccounts for those who have sinned against or have offended us. And just as wehave received the Father’s forgiveness, “for we also forgive everyone who isindebted to us.” If you go back to the Matthew 6 passage you will find thatthe Lord also added the instruction: “For if you forgive others theirtrespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do notforgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yourtrespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15).
It becomes clear that we as believers are to keep shortaccounts of those who sinned against us by forgiving them and no longer holdingtheir sin or offence against them. We are able to do this because we have experiencedour Father’s forgiveness. We find this also in Ephesians 4:32; “And be kindto one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christforgave you.”
Again, I repeat that this is primarily for believers whohave already experienced salvation and forgiveness of their sins. We shouldnever make this a condition for a lost sinner to get saved. I’ve never toldsomeone I’m witnessing to, that before they can pray the sinners prayer andreceive Jesus Christ as their Savior that they need to make a list of everyonewho has wronged them and forgive them before they can get saved. It is only afterwe have been forgiven by the grace of God and His mercy through the blood ofJesus Christ, and experienced His resurrection power into a new life, that wehave the ability and grace to then forgive others.
Matthew 18:23-35 gives us a great message on this subjectafter Peter asked the Lord how many times he had to forgive a brother who hadsinned against him. Peter thought he was doing pretty good by saying that seventimes was probably enough. But the Lord responded by saying that that is notenough but you will need to forgive him seventy-times seven. That is 490 times!!!!In other words, you would lose count after the first number of times and everytime you think or experience the pain of the hurt of the offence you must forgiveagain. You remove the offence from their account and not hold it against them.
In Matthew 18:35, Jesus concluded the story of the servant,who after he had been forgiven an unpayable debt by his master, and then refusedto forgive a fellow servant a very small account, and was sent to prison to betortured, with these power words: “So My heavenly Father also will do to youif each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother histrespasses."
My friend, this is only possible by God’s grace, and the realityof your experience of forgiveness in Christ. The fact that we can forgiveothers, which is never an easy thing to do, is proof and evidence that we have experiencedGod’s forgiveness for all our sins and have the perfect peace of God in ourhearts.
God bless!
- Daha fazla göster
