The Gospel of Luke (48) - Luke 11: 1-13 12/10/2023

First Baptist Church Leominster

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intimidate you. We're no way in the world we'll be able to get to them of course, but when we put these together we're also mindful that they go out, we send them out to about 355 or so email addresses every

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Lord's Day morning and well over a hundred of those are pastors in other parts of the world and so many of them are actually look to these to help them in their own ministries and and I hear

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I think a number of them duplicate them and distribute them to other pastors also and so I feel you know a need to give a full set of notes for their purposes as well as ours.

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Actually I have our normal course of ten pages roughly and then the last six pages are additional that we're not going to work through and they address the person and nature of the

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Holy Spirit which I think is an important matter that's it warrants a whole series on itself of course and maybe we'll do that sometime but for today we we hope to complete our consideration of Luke 11 1 through 13 in which our

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Lord taught us disciples regarding prayer. This is the third Lord's Day in this passage we've already considered

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Luke's form of the Lord's Prayer that Jesus gave on this occasion which is contained in Luke 11 2 through 4 and today we will resume our study with an encouraging word from our

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Lord regarding the God the Father's willingness and readiness to answer prayer. This is in verses 6 through 8 and then lastly verses 9 through 13 will address our

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Lord's own word of assurance that God will answer the prayer of his disciples. Now we'll read the entire passage again.

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Now it came to pass as he Jesus was praying at a certain place when he ceased that one of his disciples said to him

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Lord teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples and so he said to them when you pray say our

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Father in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us day by day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us and do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one and he said to them which of you shall have a friend and go to him at midnight and say to him friend lend me three loaves for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey and I have nothing to sit before him and he will answer from within and say do not trouble me the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed

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I cannot rise and give to you I say to you though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs so I say to you ask and it will be given to you seek you will find knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it will be open if a son asked for bread from any father among you will he give him a stone or if he asked for a fish will he give him a serpent instead of a fish or if he asked for an egg will he offer him a scorpion if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your

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Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him the

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Holy Scriptures frequently tell us that we're to be a praying people of course later in Luke 18 we'll be addressing this subject once more when

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Jesus taught his disciples of their privilege and their responsibility to pray there we read Jesus saying men always ought to pray and not lose heart we are always to pray for we are needy people we're in need of much mercy and much grace we're ignorant we need of understanding given to us we are helpless we need assistance given to us we are often downcast we need encouragement given to us we are powerless we need strength given to us we're prone to wander we need recovery granted us we are sinful we need forgiveness extended to us men always ought to pray and not lose heart how do we obtain grace to help us in our time of need well we must pray to our

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Father through Jesus Christ as the scriptures exhort us let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may find a nurse mercy obtain mercy and find help to grace in time of need and so God has ordained that the grace we need for every aspect of our

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Christian lives come through praying to God our Father he wants us to come to him and ask him for everything we need he wants us to be dependent on him he wants us to be he wants to be generous toward us for we are his favored ones he loves us he wants to care for us and so he orders in his providence that we will come to him there's no other place we should go nor can go but to a good

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God who desires and delights in hearing and answering the prayers of his children but because we are weak and flawed people we do not always come to him in prayer most

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Christians would wish that their prayer life was better and stronger than it is and has been or with when we come to God in prayer we may often come doubting or halting perhaps because we have doubts regarding God's willingness to answer our praying pastor pray for me and sometimes

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I wonder if pray for me because I don't think he's going to answer my prayers I wonder if some unbelief creeps into some people's thinking and so here our

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Lord was instructing his disciples in praying he gave them encouragement that God desired and was very willing to answer their prayers that are offered to him and so we have an encouraging word on the readiness of God to answer prayer in verses five through eight the

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Lord gave this story about a friend who comes to his neighbor at midnight in order to illustrate how his disciples should perceive their father when they pray he said to them which of you shall have a friend go to him at midnight and say to him friend lend me three loaves for a friend of mine has come to me in his on his journey and I have nothing to set before him and he will answer from within and say do not trouble me the door is now shut my children are with me in bed

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I cannot rise and give to you I say to you that though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs interesting little story our

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Lord was stressing at least two points in these words first we should recognize the point of comparison between this reluctant friend to answer his neighbor's request with our

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God who might seem to us to be reluctant to hear and answer the request of his people just as you might be persistent with a friend and seeking his help and assistance so in the same way be persistent in your praying to God don't stop keep praying do not be discouraged by what seems to be

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God's reluctance to answer you because you've not received what you need in the time and way you thought that you should receive it or might receive it but there's also a point of contrast in this little story although we can account for a neighbor's reluctance of giving us what we need because we're inconveniencing him we should not think of God in these terms and so really it's a parable of contrast in contrast to the reluctant friend our father is willing to give us what we need and so they should encourage it all the more in our continual asking

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Alexander McLaren was a pastor in London during the same period of time that Charles Spurgeon was

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McLaren lasted a little longer there in London he was quite a well -known expositor he wrote these words and the parable two points are to be specially noted the persistent suppliant pleads not for himself so much as for the hungry traveler and the man addressed gives without any kindliness from the mere wish to be left at peace as to both points an a fortiori argument is implied if a man can so persevere when leading for another how much more should we do so when asking for ourselves and if persistence has such power with selfish men how much more shall it avail with him who slumbers not nor sleeps and to whom we can never come at an inopportune moment and who will give us because we are his friends and he is ours the very ugliness of character ascribed to the owner of the loaves selfish in his enjoyment of his bed and his refusal to turn out on an errand of neighborliness in his final giving thus serves as a foil to the character of him to whom our prayers are addressed and so it's a parable of contrast our

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God is not like this friend who is a little slow in his response it's true that God at times does not seem to respond to us immediately in fact it would seem that at times

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God does seem reluctant not only to give us good things perhaps even the bare essentials that we need for survival but we should not think that our failure to receive from him is due to his lack of interest or concern for us dispel that from your thinking

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God has purposes for waiting to answer prayer first while we wait for God to answer our prayers we perform much self -examination is there something

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I'm doing or thinking that would prohibit or prevent God from answering me we weigh our motivations and our actions seeking to assess and refine them in accordance with God's Word secondly while we wait for God to answer our prayers

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God develops in us Christian character we learn patience we grow in endurance our faith is strengthened while we wait upon our

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God to intervene on our behalf and thirdly through waiting we are demonstrating to others who observe us at the

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God we serve is worthy of our worship and devotion and obedience regardless of the temporal benefit it might bring to us nothing will deter us or discourage us in our waiting upon the

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Lord and this exalts our Lord in the understanding of those who observing us look they're worshiping

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God they believe it on Jesus Christ regardless of what they're going through and fourthly

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God is honored and pleased by the faith and faithfulness of people who trust him and his word though they do not see any evidence that what he says is so is true and the faith of the patriarchs in Hebrews 11 is often set forth in a noble and exemplary manner and that they didn't have any outward evidence that God's promises were going to be realized and yet they continued to believe even for an extended period of time and God was glorified through their through their faith and Hebrews 11 16 says

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God was not ashamed to call himself their God for those who wait on him in fact we could say the longer you wait and yet maintain your allegiance to him and your submission to him the more pleased he is with you as you're waiting on him to hear and answer your prayer

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Matthew Henry gave an application of these verses the Lord Jesus taught his disciples to direct us in prayer first we must come to God with boldness and confidence for what we need as a man does to the house of his neighbor friend who he knows loves him as inclined to be kind to him second we must come for bread for that which is needful which we cannot be without third we must come to him by prayer for others as well as for ourselves this man did not come for bread for himself but for his friend the

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Lord accepted Job when he prayed for his friends we cannot come to God upon a mere more pleasing errand than when we come to him for grace to enable us to do good to feed many with our lips to entertain and edify those who come to us and for we may come with the more boldness to God and in trouble in a straight if it be a straight that we have not brought ourselves into by our own falling carelessness but Providence has led us into it this man would not have wanted bread or needed bread if his friend had not come in unexpectedly the care which

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Providence casts upon us we may with cheerfulness cast back upon Providence and fifth we ought to continue instant in prayer and watch in the same with all perseverance in other words we ought to persevere in our praying not stop not give up well after our

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Lord gave an encouraging word on the readiness of God to answer prayer Jesus and gave his disciples certainty that their

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God will answer them when they pray and that's what we have in verses 9 through 13 the

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Lord Jesus further encouraged his disciples that God the Father would grant their request in prayer so I say to you ask and it will be given you seek you will find knock it will be open to you for everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it will be open if a son asked for bread from any father among you will he give him a stone or if he asked for a fish will he give him a serpent instead of a fish or if he asked for an egg will he offer him a scorpion if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly

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Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him so Jesus said in verse 9 so I say to you ask it will be given to you seek you will find knock it will be open to you

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Jesus opened this saying with the word so I say to you and there is weightiness there's emphasis in these opening words of Jesus set forth by Richard Lenski who his whole commentary set is an excellent set on New Testament Greek the

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Greek text of the New Testament and he was a Lutheran man and he wrote comment on these words in addition to the strong illustration verses 5 through 8 that we just considered no less a person than I your

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Lord make to you my own disciples this most positive and assured declaration this is the force of the preamble and he gives the

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Greek clause kego umine lego in other words so I say unto you there's a point of emphasis

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Jesus is affirming to them very strongly to give them assurance and so what was it that our

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Lord promised well Jesus declared that God the Father will answer persistent prayer and that adjective is important persistent prayer in our waiting we are to be asking we can be certain that God will hear an answer and so the verbs here and there are three of them asking seeking and knocking or all present tense verbs in the

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Greek text and so the emphasis is on continual asking continual seeking continual knocking with the subsequent promise that God will indeed respond in answering that kind of praying again

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Lenski wrote the three present imperatives imperative is command these commands to ask seek not these present imperatives are iterative in other words there to be actions repeated ask seek not today tomorrow every time you have need you cannot come too often the tenses are usually regarded as expressing protracted action but it ought to be plain that when we ask anything of God mere repetitions and much speaking are of no avail talks about being repetitions of these sayings or whatnot that somehow through your repetition

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God is going to hear you know continual coming is a different thing it is iterative in other words repeating as just stated the three imperatives are synonymous ask seek and not and yet the second in other words this the seek seems to be more intense than the first ask and the third not more intense than the other two and the three together expressed the deepest and the most earnest desire and prayer be seeking be asking be knocking the first verb is ask asking suggests one who is dependent on the good grace of another to grant his request you're asking because you're without you need

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William Hendrickson wrote of this asking asking implies humility and a consciousness of need the verb is used with respect to a petition which is addressed by an inferior to a superior asking also presupposes belief in a personal

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God with whom man can have fellowship when one asks he expects an answer hence this implies faith in a

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God who can does will answer that is faith in God the Father having such a faith makes the prayer warm and personal asking

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God simple asking and then Jesus told his disciples secondly they were to seek

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God is waiting to be found by those who long for him he would have his people seek after him promising them that he would be found by them and Hendrickson commented on this second verb seek seeking is asking plus acting you're not just asking but you're doing something you're seeking it implies earnest petitioning but that alone is not sufficient a person must be active in endeavoring to obtain the fulfillment of his needs for example one should not only pray for a deep knowledge of the

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Bible we should also diligently search and examine the scriptures yes but you seek attend the services not forsaken the assembling of yourselves together and above all strive to live in harmony with God's will and then

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Jesus told his disciples certainly that they were to knock as one would continually knock on a door to begin granted entrance so disciples are to gain entrance a hearing with God by knocking and then

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Hendrickson wrote about this third command verb knocking is asking plus acting plus persevering one knocks again and again until the doors open in reality however perseverance is probably already implied in all three imperatives since all are in the present tense and so possible rendering would be continued to ask to seek to not what is probable for all three is a certainty with respect to the last the very idea of biblical knocking all we already imply in perseverance one continues to knock at the door of the kingdom palace until the king who is at the same time the father opens the door and supplies whatever is needed so the emphasis really in this portion of our

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Lord's instruction is to persevere in prayer of course there's never a suggestion in the

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Bible that a Christian can live before God in idleness or presumption again we stress that God has ordained our praying to him in order to receive from him that which we need and desire you cannot live rightly before God without praying to God continuously it won't happen you will not be successful the

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Bible assumes you cannot live without prayer and just presume upon God to care for everything as it arises and call that faith the tenor of all

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Scripture is that we his people are to come continually to him in prayer requesting from him those things we need relying upon him to provide them we're always to seek his face a hearing with him so that we might receive the things that only he can give a

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Christian who is not a praying Christian is a weak Christian probably a presumptive is not faith because faith of course follows and obeys the

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Word of God you pray and in order for the

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Lord Jesus to assure his disciples further he repeated the verbs of verse 9 with words of certainty and assurance in verse 10 it's a repetition for emphasis

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Jesus said everyone who asks receives he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it will be open that's a certainty

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Jesus Christ promised it and so it would seem that the point of emphasis of our

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Lord's words in verse 9 is persistence or perseverance in praying but our

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Lord's words in verse 10 promote our confidence that it will if we employ the means of prayer our

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Lord has set before us we most may be most certainly assured of God's favor and his bestowal of the blessing we requested of him persevere in prayer with confidence and in order to further assure his disciples the father will grant their petition

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Jesus gave a comparison of earthly fathers who are inherently evil and when we say they're evil they're totally depraved and that doesn't mean people are as wicked as they can be we can always be more wicked than we are total depravity means that every aspect of our lives has been adversely affected by sin totally and so even totally depraved people non -christians can be loving fathers who want to give good things to their children and that's the appeal that Jesus makes here if you being evil and yet here we have a good and kind father as fathers generally are at any rate but he who is our father to whom we pray is of course infinitely good and so we read in verses 11 to 13 these words once again if a son asked for bread from any father among you any of them will he give him a stone or if he asked for a fish will he give him a serpent instead of a fish or if he asked for an egg will they offer him a scorpion if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly father give the

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Holy Spirit to those who ask him and so again this little parable is a parable of contrast isn't it if you're gonna willing to go this much as a father you know can you have any doubt whatsoever or question that your heavenly father is going to do so much more so here we have

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God's promise that he will give good gifts to his children that is disciples of Jesus Christ and as the earlier parable of the reluctant neighbor this is a story of contrast the design is to show how a faulty and flawed father who may do good for his children is not like our heavenly father in his dealings with us as children we first read of a son asking his father things he desired for himself again verses 11 to 12 if a son asked for bread from any father among you will he give him a stone or if he asked for a fish will he give him a serpent instead of a fish or if he asked for an egg will he offer him a scorpion a human father would not be so cruel as to deceive or harm his children by supposing to give them what they asked but who gave them instead something that was harmful to them but then our heavenly father is contrasted if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly father give the

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Holy Spirit to those who ask him and so we are to be assured that God is much more willing to give us everything good and needful as his children who ask him than any earthly father our

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Lord concluded his words on prayer with a rather surprising statement Jesus said in conclusion how much more will your heavenly father give the

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Holy Spirit to those who ask him this is a very significant promise of Jesus Christ that we need to understand what is the supreme good gift that God the

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Father will bestow upon his children he gives you the Holy Spirit with and through the

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Holy Spirit God imparts all of his grace to his children faith love hope patience endurance mercy goodness all the fruit of the

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Spirit as well all truly good things come to us through the operation of the

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Spirit of God the Lord and teaching his disciples to pray taught them to pray for the

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Holy Spirit to be given to them how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him this is one of those passages that is treated by some even many evangelicals as though it does not apply to the

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Christian it's amazing to me it is commonly said of this verse

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Jesus gave these instructions before the cross before the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost these words therefore do not apply to Christians today who live after Pentecost this was the teaching of CI Schofield in the

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Schofield reference Bible and also in the revised

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Schofield study Bible the new Schofield Bible produced in the 1950s

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John Wolver, Charles Ryrie those guys this is a position it took with regard to this verse this is the footnote it is evident that none of the disciples with the possible exception of Mary of Bethany asked for the

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Spirit in the faith of this promise it was a new and staggering thing to a

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Jew that in advance of the fulfillment of Joel 2 28 29 which is the Old Testament prophecy of Pentecost all might receive the

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Spirit Mary alone of the disciples understood Christ repeated declaration concerning his own death and resurrection save Mary not one of the disciples but Peter and he only in the great confession there are the crisis on the living

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God manifested a spark of spiritual intelligence really till after the resurrection of Christ and the impartation of the

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Spirit of course they were greatly enlarged at that time but not a spark of spiritual intelligence is that right but then

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I italicized and emboldened their words to go back to the promise of Luke 11 13 is to forget

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Pentecost and to ignore the truth that now every believer has the indwelling spirit in other words

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Luke 11 13 does not apply to the Christian you're not to ask the Father to give you the

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Holy Spirit because he's already given you the Holy Spirit from the day of Pentecost and that's true of every

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Christian in this New Testament age and so these words of Jesus do not apply to the

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Christian they were pre -crossed under the age during the age of the law before the age of grace and so since God poured out the

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Holy Spirit on all Christians on Pentecost this passage is no longer to be regarded as relevant or applicable to Christians and here's another quote that extends this same errant teaching what does it mean to be spirit -filled let me give you a short theology lesson we will call it theology of the spirit -filled life when you were saved the moment you received

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Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit came to live within you amen there's no

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Christian who does not possess the Holy Spirit amen if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he's none of his yet it's amazing how many

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Christians think they do not have the Holy Spirit I have sat in church and heard sincere people pray

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Oh God send your spirit and I thought to myself no he is here he is here

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I've heard people pray Oh God give me more of your spirit as if he comes in doses the

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Holy Spirit is a person he lives within you know you not that your body is a temple to the Holy Ghost so many times we ask for what we already have we pray for the

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Holy Spirit he is already here have you ever analyzed your prayers you pray God give me more love for so -and -so the

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Bible said the love of God is shed abroad in our in our hearts in other words you already have that love you don't need to pray for it you say

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God I need more grace God says that the grace he's already given you is sufficient you cry

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Oh Lord I need more strength the Bible says you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you you don't need to pray for strength

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Oh God guide me you say and he's thinking I'm trying why don't you follow God I need power you cry in fact you've had power since the

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Holy Spirit came upon you and so there are elements of truth in what is stated here but the conclusions he draws disregard our

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Lord's words to his disciples here in Luke 11 13 it no longer applies the conclusion is that you disregard the teaching of the

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Lord you should not ask for the father to give you the

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Spirit of God through whom comes these good things but further he's also teaching you need not pray for more grace more strength or more power well there are serious problems with this position first it dismisses a portion of the

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Scriptures does not apply to Christians and yet the Gospel of Luke wasn't written until 30 years after the resurrection of Christ it was into the middle 60s probably when it was written it was written by a

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Christian Luke for Christians the Gospel of Luke is Christian Scripture and to say that Jesus taught this before the cross and therefore doesn't apply is errant second it presumes that you're not in need of present recurring manifestations of the

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Spirit's presence and power in your life after all you've been already been given everything you need now it's certainly true that everyone every

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Christian has the Holy Spirit in dwelling him his presence is ever with us but his power is not always with us you can grieve the

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Spirit so that the sensible presence of the Spirit is absent the power of the Spirit is absent and the

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Scriptures teach there are times when we need to be in prayer that God will give us fresh manifestations of his spirit so that his presence and power be experienced among us and one can do this and not forget

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Pentecost as Schofield and the even the new Schofield guys said and so are you in need of fresh manifestations of his presence and fresh bestowal of his grace to stand day by day of course do you need patience encouragement boldness enlightenment power to do his commands is not the prayer that God fill us with his spirit the same as the request of God that he give us his spirit how much more shall the father give the spirit to them that ask him it is a perfectly proper to ask

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God to give you a spirit of course recognizing that he already in dwells within you and in the epistles we see the same idea

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Philippians 119 Paul could say I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the

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Spirit of Jesus Christ see that God gives you further supplies of the Spirit he was confident that God would give him further supplies of the

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Spirit to deal with whatever lie before him and Galatians 3 therefore he who supplies the

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Spirit to you and works miracles among you does he do it by the works of the law the hearing by faith

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God supplies the Spirit to you and especially in times of great need and so the

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Spirit comes upon his people just like his spirit came in the Old Testament to strengthen people to go into battle or to wage warfare

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David against Goliath whatnot God strengthens his people disciples of Jesus Christ to rise to the occasion to deal with sin to deal in their witness to others to deal with living righteously to endure testing or trial we need the

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Holy Spirit and if you don't have the Holy Spirit given to you in increasing measure at these needed times you're going to be a weakling in the things of Christ and so do not these verses speak of God providing a continuing supply of the

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Holy Spirit when that need arises well the old guy certainly had it right over against these 20th century

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Johnny come lately Matthew Henry wrote the encouragement he gives us to hope that we shall speed in this prayer your

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Heavenly Father will give it's in his power to give the Spirit he is all good things to bestow wrapped up in that one but that is not all it is in his promise the gift of the

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Holy Ghost is in the covenant next to and it's here inferred from parents readiness apply their children's needs and gratify their desires when they're natural and proper if the child asked for a serpent or a scorpion the father and kindness will deny him but not if he asked for what is needful and will be nourishing when

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God's children asked for the Spirit they do in effect ask for bread for the Spirit is a staff of life lay he's yay he is the the author of the soul's life if our earthly parents so evil yet be so kind if they though weak be yet so knowing that they not only give but give with discretion give what is best in the best manner in time much more will your

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Heavenly Father who had infinitely excels the fathers of our flesh both in wisdom and goodness give us his

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Holy Spirit if earthly parents be willing to lay out the education of their children to whom they designed to leave their estates much more will our

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Heavenly Father give the Spirit of sons to all those whom he has predestinated to the inheritance of sons

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Christians are to pray for the Holy Spirit pray to the father that he give us the

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Holy Spirit and that's not denying that he is indwelling us we need him to come upon us in power and evangelicals

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I think her are afraid of you know succumbing to some of the extremes of our

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Pentecostal friends of course who advocate but we would we would argue some really aberrant views about the nature of the

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Holy Spirit is working people but because of our you know our antipathy or fear of those things we deny ourselves what are promised to us and then you throw in this dispensational teaching of the 20th century and we're in a world of hurt

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Charles Spurgeon addressed this matter now this was back in the 19th century okay long before Scofield study

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Bible but it appears to me that he was addressing in London in the middle of the 1800s probably the emerging teaching of J .N.

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Darby the father of dispensationalism who was Scofield's mentor and so look at Charles Spurgeon's words about this verse asking the father to give you the

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Holy Spirit but it appears plainly enough from the text that this Holy Spirit is to be given an answer to prayer did not we hear some time ago from certain wise brethren he's been sarcastic that we were never to pray for the

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Spirit I think I heard it said often we have the Holy Spirit therefore we are not to pray for it like that other declaration of certain of the same brotherhood that we have pardon of sin and are not to pray for it just as if we were never to pray for what we have if we have life we are to pray that we have it more abundantly if we have pardon in one respect we're to ask for a fuller sense of it if we have the

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Holy Spirit so that we are quickened or made alive and saved we do not ask him for that in that capacity but we ask for his power in other directions and for his grace in other forms

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I do not go before God now and say Lord I'm a dead sinner quicken me by thy Spirit for I trust

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I am quickened by his Spirit made alive but being quickened I now cry Lord let that life thou has given me ebb let not the life thou has given me ebb down till it becomes very feeble but give me thy

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Spirit that the life within me may become strong and mighty may subdue all the power of death within my members that I may put forth the vigor and energy which come from thyself to the

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Spirit oh you may have the Spirit but you are the very men to pray that you may experience more of his matchless operations and gracious influences in all the benign sanctity of his indwelling may seek that yet more and more you may know him you have this as your encouragement that God will give the

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Holy Spirit to them that ask him ever since certain brethren gave up asking for the Holy Spirit they have not had it and he uses the neuter pronoun it because in the

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Greek spirit is neuter it's not a denial of his personality as the Spirit okay and they have gone it aside into many inventions if they will not ask they shall not have but be it years in mind to wait humbly and patiently upon the

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Lord that he may daily give us of his Spirit no miracles do we seek but all the spiritual uplifting which the

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Holy Spirit gave to men of old we need and he can still give it to us or give it to us still though he will not reveal new truths we do not want that he should for we already have the complete gospel revealed he will bring home the old truth to our souls and make them potent upon our consciences and upon our lives and this is what we want we should all pray throughout the day and onward that God will give to his churches more and more of his

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Holy Spirit that's such an important truth that we ought to take to heart well in this section of Luke's gospel our

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Lord Jesus of course had laid down some strong words to his disciples about their duties and privileges but also the severe consequences for failing in them in this section of Luke's gospel we've read commands of Jesus deny yourself obey my word forgive everybody their offenses from your heart well these things are not possible to any but those who are empowered by the

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Spirit of God you cannot do the things which are set forth in this book apart from God's Spirit resting upon you and empowering even giving you the desire to do them and for his presence and power to be manifested to you you're to pray to the

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Father that he give you the Holy Spirit whenever the occasion arises and even before it arises and you can only live before him as he the

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Spirit of God empowers you to do so do not fail to ask the Father to give you this good gift with the

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Holy Spirit comes everything that you need we have to close here this whole matter of the role of the person of the

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Holy Spirit in the lives of New Testament Christians is a very important matter that we should understand and we don't have time to deal with it now so we'll pick up here next week

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Lord willing and we'll address the new covenant promise of the Holy Spirit this was a new prayer that his disciples had never heard before and it was in view of this church age okay and the giving of the

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Holy Spirit to every Christian and so we need to consider the new covenant promise of the

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Holy Spirit that the people of the old covenant the Old Testament Saints they did not have available to them like you and I have we are privileged people could because we live in the inaugurated kingdom of God and Jesus there is our

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Savior and he gives the Holy Spirit to those that ask him thank God for that and may we be faithful in doing so amen let's pray thank you our

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Father for your word help us to take to heart these matters and be faithful and obedient to your word our

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God and help us our God to discern and detect errant voices or teachings our

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God that we would take your word at face value and apply it to us in faith and obedience for we pray these things our