Well, good morning.
We are in a series on prayers,
and we started this series by looking at
Jesus' prayer in the Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 11.
I was the one who preached on that passage then,
but I want to tell you that there's a very important verse
in that passage that we shouldn't just look at lightly,
that that verse itself deserves to be read
and reflected on and considered seriously.
And so let me ask you to turn to the Gospel of Luke,
chapter 11, and let me point out this verse
that we're going to be thinking about this morning.
It is Luke 11, 13.
Luke 11, 13.
If you then, though you are evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father in Heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?
So we're going to think and reflect on what it means
for God to give us the Holy Spirit
because we are His children.
And so that is the basic thrust of the sermon this morning.
We're going to look at two halves,
the problem and the solution.
And so let's begin with the problem.
The problem shows up as early as Genesis chapter 3,
which is the disobedience of Adam and Eve and the fall.
As God comes walking in the garden,
they hide themselves.
And Adam says,
we are afraid.
So I want us to think about prayer
in relationship to the Father
giving us the Holy Spirit
in relationship to being afraid.
That's where I'm hoping we will look at this morning.
So, they were afraid.
I want you to understand a couple of things.
Most of us, I think,
can relate to the doctrine of sin
better than anything else
because we are expert at sinning.
At least I know I'm expert at sinning.
I went to a university,
University of California, Santa Barbara,
where the student housing was called Sin City.
I mean, we were competing with UCLA and Berkeley
and other schools.
We took pride in the fact
that we could sin better than any other campus
in the University of California system.
So I'm a product of that environment.
So, first of all,
sinning is a lot more complicated than we think.
Just in Hebrew alone,
there are 13 different words for sinning.
So sinning just covers
one of 13 different things.
But my purpose this morning
is not to go through all 13 kinds.
My purpose is to try to help us understand
God giving us the Holy Spirit
in relationship to fear.
There are all kinds of fears.
So just as there are many words for sinning,
there are many kinds of fears.
And some of them are good kinds,
and some of them are terrible kinds.
Let me just mention a couple good fears.
If you're at all familiar with wisdom literature,
that is to say Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job,
you will notice that Proverbs begins with
the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.
It also says the beginning of knowledge
is the fear of the Lord.
In Ecclesiastes, it says,
now that we have considered everything,
let's arrive at a conclusion.
The conclusion is this,
fear God and keep his commandments
because this applies to everyone.
So there we are encouraged to fear,
but it is to fear God.
So we want to fear God
because that is the beginning of wisdom,
that is beginning of knowledge,
that's what it's all about.
So that would be a healthy kind of fear.
But there is another kind of fear.
We wouldn't continue to use the word fear in our culture,
but it is the verb that meant to fear in older English.
When St. Paul's Cathedral in London burnt in 1666,
Wren was asked to rebuild it.
It was too destroyed, so he built a brand new one.
And all the newspapers,
if you read the newspapers from their time,
all of them said,
this cathedral is awful.
I've been to St. Paul's Cathedral.
It's not awful at all.
It's the second largest dome in the world.
It's a fabulous cathedral.
Well, in 1666,
what it meant is that
this cathedral is awful
means it fills you with awe.
That is, when you go in,
you are in this atmosphere,
this environment,
that you are filled with awe.
So it is awful in that sense,
not awful,
terrible in our use of English 400 years later.
I want to ask you,
have you ever experienced
an experience that fills you with awe?
Maybe you have,
maybe you haven't.
I don't know.
I don't know you well enough to know.
But I'll share with you two of them.
I was,
20 years ago,
I was visiting Italy,
and we were in Venice,
and it was Sunday.
So I could have gone to a museum,
because after all,
I was a tourist visiting Italy,
but I thought,
this is Sunday,
at least I should go and worship God,
and I may not get anything
out of the sermon,
if it's in Italian,
or anything from the theology
of the setting of that church,
but nevertheless,
I can still go and talk to the Lord.
At least pray the Lord's Prayer in English,
or Arabic.
So I went to San Marcos,
Cathid Basilica.
I don't know what happened,
but I was there about one minute,
and I had,
it was jam-packed,
there were no more chairs,
I was standing at the very, very back,
and this overwhelming feeling came over me.
I want to assure you,
I am not a touchy-feely,
gushy-mushy kind of a person.
I am an analytic philosopher,
I am a disciple of David Hume,
I doubt everything,
I hardly believe anything,
I am not even sure
that you really exist out there.
For all I know,
I may be hallucinating
in a psychiatric ward,
pretending to be a preacher.
But I am not a gooey,
gushy-mushy,
and yet this overpowering feeling
came upon me.
I have not experienced it
that many times in life.
Before you know it,
I was on my knees.
I felt this need
to get on my knees.
A couple seconds later,
I was completely flat,
prostrate.
I know that because I know
the Hebrew verb,
hishtahwe,
and I know that it's used
in scriptures,
hishtahwe,
to prostrate before God.
So I know it's biblical.
And as I was there,
see,
I thought I was going there
really,
you know,
to really tour
and see the church
and maybe pray on the side.
What I had no idea
was that that was going
to be an experience
of encountering God.
I was flat on my face
on the floor
and I couldn't get up.
One of the ministers
came to me and said,
are you okay?
They thought maybe I fainted
or, you know,
had a heart attack
or something.
I said, no, no,
I'm fine.
But that was
an overwhelming sense
of awe,
fear,
yare in Hebrew.
Nine years later,
not nine years later,
but nine years ago,
I was in Washington, D.C.
and I was at a church
because it was Easter
and I was with my family.
And as we were sitting there,
I found myself sobbing,
crying so strongly.
And that's just not me,
you know, I mean.
And I had this overwhelming sense
of the presence of God.
God was doing work in my life
and I had not planned on it.
I would have asked him
to do it at this church.
After all, this is my home church
and I would feel like it's at home.
But it was in Washington, D.C.
Can anything good
come out of Washington?
Well, some religious experiences can.
But that is a good fear
of the Lord.
A sense of awe,
a sense of respect.
But there are other kinds of fears.
If you really want to torture me,
promise me not to do it
because here I'm being vulnerable to you.
I'm giving you a chance to torture me
if you really want to.
The way to torture me
is to take me to Willis Tower
and make me go to the top
and step on the extension
where the floor is glass.
I would have the worst anxiety reaction
you'll see in your life.
I'd probably have a heart attack
and die right there and then.
Something tells me
that the minute I step on that,
it's going to open up
and I'm going to fall down
and kill myself
against the pavement.
Now, I've studied enough physics.
I mean, I am well educated.
I have gone to college.
I know something about physics.
I know walls don't open up
and swallow.
But that would give me,
you know,
you couldn't pay me
to go through that experience.
That would be a horrible sense of fear.
I remember as a kid,
I don't know why.
I mean, I must have been stupid.
But I went and saw the movie Dracula
and I was seven years old.
I went with my cousin
and he was going to go
and I wasn't going to look like a coward.
So I thought,
I'll go with him.
And so several of us,
my cousin,
my best cousin
and several of us friends
went to see the movie Dracula
and it was terrifying
for a seven-year-old.
I came back home.
I went to sleep,
had a nightmare.
And in my great fear,
I woke up
and I thought
I saw Dracula coming at me.
So I stretched my hand
to grab the cross
to stop him
and there was no cross.
And I gave a scream
that scared half of my family.
They all rushed
to see what's going on.
That is fear.
There are movie slashers
that focus on fear.
Alien,
if you've seen the first one.
But there is
a special kind of fear
that I want us
to think about
this morning.
A very important
kind of a fear.
that's going to be
to do it.
So,
please turn in your Bibles
to Hebrews,
the epistle to the Hebrews
after the Paul's,
after the Pauline epistles,
then we have Hebrews.
If you get to James,
you've got too far.
If you get to Peter,
you've got to,
first,
second Peter,
you've got too far.
It's Hebrews.
Hebrews.
And Hebrews
is asking
a simple question.
Was it necessary
for Jesus
to be born?
Why didn't God
just open the heavens
and announce,
vocally,
you are forgiven
and forgive us?
Why didn't he do it
like that?
Why did he send Jesus?
Couldn't he have
come up with other ways
of saving us?
And the answer is that,
of course,
he could have,
but he chose this one
for this reason.
So,
the author of Hebrews
is trying to answer
the question,
was it necessary
for Jesus
to be born?
And of course,
it was necessary.
So,
let's look at
Hebrews chapter 2,
verse 14
to see why
it was necessary
for Jesus
and then we'll look
at verse 15.
So,
Hebrews 2,
14 and 15.
Since the children
have flesh and blood,
he,
Jesus,
too,
shared in their humanity
so that by his death
he might destroy him
who holds
the power of death.
Jesus became human
in order to destroy death.
That in his dying
and in his resurrection
he would do that.
He couldn't have done that
by simply announcing
you are forgiven.
And so,
in order to destroy him
who holds
the power of death.
And in case you don't know
who that is,
that is the devil.
But look at verse 15
carefully.
And not only to destroy him
who had the power of death,
and to free
those
who all their lives
were held
in slavery
by their fear
of death.
Satan uses
fear
to run
his kingdom.
fear
and
Satan's
primary
tool
is fear
and the ultimate
fear
is death.
But I'm sure
there are other fears
between now
and death.
So,
Satan
uses
fear
to
terrify us
and to hold us
as slaves.
Fear
results,
fear of death
results
in slavery.
Okay.
So,
if you're hungry,
how would you solve
that problem?
Well,
you eat.
If you're naked,
how would you solve
that problem?
You get dressed.
If you are cold,
how would you solve
that problem?
Put on a sweater.
If you can't see
very well,
how do you solve
that problem?
Well,
you buy eyeglasses.
So,
there are
solutions
to problems.
What
is the solution
to the problem
of the,
of fear
of death
that results
in slavery?
If I am
feeling afraid,
what is God
going to do
to deliver me
from that fear?
Maybe give me
four green berets,
you know,
as bodyguard.
and then I'll
think,
well,
you know,
they can't take me
out,
they'll have to
go through them.
Or,
you know,
give me a car
with,
you know,
made out of iron
and thick glass.
Not like the one
convertible
in which Kennedy
was shot.
The Lincoln.
Maybe give me
that kind of a car,
a tank.
Or,
maybe live
in a castle
that can't be
conquered.
What is God's
solution
to
slavery
that comes
from the fear
of death?
You are going
to be surprised.
Where you're
taking notes,
jot what you think
you answer
and we'll check.
The answer
to that
is a very,
very important
verse.
The answer
to that
is in Romans 8.
Look at
Romans 8
verse 15.
If we are saved,
when we are saved
at that time,
Romans 8
15.
Please look at
Romans 8
15.
You
did not
receive
a spirit
that makes
you a slave
again
to fear.
Do you notice
that he's using
the same vocabulary
as in Hebrews?
Slavery,
fear.
But he's saying
we aren't
like that.
you did
not
receive a
spirit
that makes
you a
slave
again to
fear,
but you
received
the spirit
of sonship
or the
spirit
of adoption
and by
him
we cry out
Abba
Father.
God's
solution
to our
fear of
death
and the
slavery that
comes with it
is to assure
us that
we are
adopted
by God
and if
we are
adopted
by God
then it
is the
Holy Spirit
who cries
within us
Abba
Father.
I'll get
back to
Abba
Father in
just a
second
but I
want to
focus on
something else
before we
get to
Abba
Father.
So
we are
adopted
by God.
You did
not receive
a spirit
that makes
you slave
again to
fear but
you received
the spirit
of sonship
or the
spirit of
adoption.
Well
of all
the things
that we
have in
archaeology
we happen
to have
a lot
of material
about
adoption.
Some of
the most
fascinating
things to
read in
archaeology
of the
Old
Testament
is
Nuzu
material
or
Nuzi
material.
Please
don't
misunderstand
me.
I didn't
say Nazi.
Nazi are
bad Germans
in World
War II.
This is
not
Germans.
This is
much
earlier.
At least
2,400
years before
Germans.
This is
Nuzi
material.
Nuzu
material.
And all
of that
material
deals
with
adoption
and
inheritance.
It
raises
some
interesting
question.
If I
don't
have a
son
and I
am
rich
and I
want
to
leave
this
wealth
to
somebody,
who
do I
leave
it
to?
And the
answer is
to your
adopted
son.
Have you
read that
anywhere in
the Old
Testament?
Like
Genesis 15,
Abraham
wanting to
adopt
Eliezer?
But it
raises
another
issue.
Suppose
I
adopt
a son
and then
my daughter
marries
a
guy,
her
husband,
is
my
adopted
son
and my
son-in-law
the same?
who
would
inherit
me?
My
adopted
son
or my
son-in-law?
Adopted
son.
There
are other
issues.
If I
adopt
a son
because
if I
adopt
a son
because I
don't have
a son
and I
want
somebody
to take
care of
me
in my
old age
etc.
And
then
as
happened
to my
own
very
best
friend
who
for
10
years
couldn't
have
any
children
and
then
they
adopted
a
son
and
a
year
later
she
became
pregnant
and
they
ended
up
with
two
sons.
One
adopted
one
natural
born.
Of
those
two
who
is
more
important
legally?
And
the
answer
is
the
natural
son
does
not
nullify
the
adopted
son.
They
are
equal.
We
know
a lot
about
adoption
customs
in
Paul's
own
age.
So when
we read
the news
material,
when I
read it
I think
oh I'm
reading
just
Genesis.
Everything
I see
in Genesis
I see
in news
material.
But we
also know
something
about
adoption
laws
in Roman
empire.
There
are
two
stages.
The
first
stage
is to
cut off
completely
your
relationship
with the
past.
You
are
completely
set
free
from
your
past.
So
even
if you
had
debts
you're
free
from
your
debts.
You
don't
have
to
pay
because
now
you
have
been
adopted
and
you're
a
different
person.
You're
not
that
same
person.
You
may
have
the
same
name.
You
can
even
change
your
name
if
you
want
to.
But
you
are
completely
set
free
from
that
and
then
you
become
a
new
person
completely.
So
suppose
a
master
adopts
a
son
in
a
Roman
culture
but
the
master
also
has
a
daughter.
The
son
and
the
daughter
are
not
in
any
way
related
blood
wise.
one
is
adopted
completely
from a
different
family
altogether
and
one
is
his
daughter.
Can
the
brother
and
the
sister
marry
because
they
don't
have
any
blood
ties
whatsoever?
The
answer
is
no.
They
are
brothers
and
sisters.
But
you
say,
but
we
are
not.
We
don't
have
the
same
parents.
You
have
now
become
a
part
of
the
new
family.
You
are
adopted.
And
what
is
happening
now
is
that
adopted
by
God.
And
that's
why
we
can
say
so
our
past
is
cut off.
It's
finished.
It's
over.
It
can't
hold
itself
against
us
anymore.
So
we
are
cut
off
from
the
past
and
this
is
a
brand
new
relationship
and
we
are
heirs.
Co-heirs
with
Christ
as
he
says.
But
a couple
things I
want you
to
notice
in
relationship
to
this
adoption
has
ramifications.
Look
at
verse
in
Romans
8.
Look
at
Romans
8.
34.
Look
at
Romans
8.
34.
And
now
you
can
see
how
this
is
all
tied
up
to
prayer.
So
in
8.
34
Paul
asks
the
question
who
is
he
that
condemns?
more
than
that
who
is
he
that
condemns?
Christ
Jesus
who
died
more
than
that
who
was
raised
to
life
is
at
the
right
hand
of
God
and
he
is
also
interceding
for
us.
So
Jesus
intercedes
for
us
at
the
right
hand
of
the
father.
Jesus
is
praying
for
us.
So
whatever
else
my
prayer
life
is
like
Jesus
at
least
I
know
Jesus
is
praying
for
me.
Jesus
is
interceding
for
me.
I
would
have
thought
that's
a great
answer.
I
got
even
better
answer
than
that.
I
mean
this
is
not
just
the
icing.
This
is
the
cherry
on top
of
the
icing.
Look
at
Romans
8
26.
In
the
same
way
8
26
in
the
same
way
the
spirit
helps
us
in
our
weakness
we
don't
know
what
we
ought
to
pray
for
but
the
spirit
himself
intercedes
for
us.
So
who
is
interceding
for
us?
Jesus
and
as
if
that
is
not
enough
and
the
holy
spirit
Jesus
at
the
right
hand
of
the
father
the
holy
spirit
now.
That's
a good
team.
Great
team.
Two
aces.
The
holy
spirit
intercedes
for us
and
one
of the
things
he
does
is
that
he
enables
us
to
say
Abba
father.
He
enables
us
to
understand
that
we
are
now
in
a
new
family
with
no
ties
to
the
past
that
this
is
brand
new
and
we
belong
to
God
and
his
family.
So
that
is
one
thing.
The
other
thing
I
wanted
you
to
notice
is
look
at
verse
26
again.
Romans
8
26
In the
same
way
the
spirit
helps
us
in
our
weaknesses
we
do
not
know
what
we
ought
to
pray
but
the
spirit
himself
intercedes
for us
with
groans
with
groans
too
deep
for
words.
The
Greek
is
too
deep
for
words.
So
the
Holy
Spirit
intercedes
for
us
with
groans
that
are
too
deep
for
words.
Take
a look
at
verse
23.
Take
a look
at
verse
23.
Not
only
so
but
we
ourselves
who
have
the
first
foot
of
the
spirit
groan
inwardly.
So
who
is
groaning?
We
are
groaning
but
who
else?
The
Holy
Spirit
is
groaning
with
us.
So
when
we
don't
know
how
to
pray
the
Holy
Spirit
prays
for
us
in
things
that
are
too
deep
for
words.
It's
difficult
to
know
what
he
really
means
by
too
deep
for
words.
It
could
mean
that
he
is
groaning
to
us
in
something
other
than
verbal
language.
So
he's
not
using
words.
He
may
be
using
sounds
like
oh
or
whatever.
or
he
is
saying
that
he
is
groaning
for
us
with
deep
words
but
we're
not
sure.
We don't
know whether
to pray
this way
or this
way.
We don't
know whether
to ask
for this
or that.
But he
knows
and he
prays
for us
with words
that are
too deep
for us
but not
too deep
for him.
so the
spirit
intercedes
for us
the spirit
assures
us
that we
are God's
children
the spirit
prays
for us
with groaning
that are
too deep
for words.
But that's
not all.
Just one
more thing
I want
you to
notice.
Look at
verse
15
again.
By
him
we
cry
out
it
is not
chairman
Mao
it's not
captain
America
it's not
you know
manager
of this
company
we cry
out
with
Abba
father.
Why is
that
important?
This
turns out
to be
extremely
important
perhaps
the most
important
thing
of
everything
I'm
saying
this
morning.
The
reason
for
that
is
that
there
is
a
scholar
by
the
name
of
Joachim
Yeremias
who is
an expert
on
Aramaic.
I wish
he laid
hands on
me before
he passed
away and
passed all
the Aramaic
to me.
No he
didn't so
now I
have to
learn it
rather than
just
inherit it.
Yeremias
studied
every
written
prayer
between
Malachi
and
Matthew.
Every
prayer
that
was
recorded
anybody
who
wrote
down
a
prayer
he
studied
it
and
those
prayers
were
in
Aramaic
and
to
his
amazement
he
discovered
two
things
number
one
all
the
prayers
without
a
single
not
even
one
single
exception
all
the
prayers
began
formally
and
collectively
so they
all began
with
our
not
my
not
your
not
his
they
all
began
with
our
and
they
all
began
with
the
word
father
formally
our
father
let
me
ask you
a question
so you
can feel
good about
yourself
where have
you seen
that
before
give
yourself
a good
mark
our
father
all
the
prayers
400
years
of
prayers
all
of
them
begin
with
our
father
plural
formal
then
comes
Jesus
and
he
decides
to do
something
else
he and
I are
going to
have to
talk
about
grammar
here
look at
John
chapter
20
verse
17
in
the
gospel
of
John
chapter
20
verse
17
after
the
resurrection
Mary
Magdalene
goes to
the tomb
sees
Jesus
and she
is so
excited
she is
clinging
to him
and he
says to
her
don't
cling
to me
or don't
hold
on
to
me
I
have
not
yet
returned
to
the
father
go
instead
to
my
brothers
and
tell
them
I
am
returning
to
my
father
and
to
your
father
to
my
God
and
to
your
God
for
those
who
teach
English
what would
be a
simpler
way of
saying
that
I
am
going
to
our
father
and
our
God
but
he
doesn't
say
that
he
says
my
father
and
your
father
my
God
and
your
God
he
does
not
include
himself
in the
same
group
as
the
disciples
why
is
that
because
the
father
is
his
father
in a
different
way
than
he
is
our
father
we
are
adopted
Jesus
is
not
adopted
so
Jesus
doesn't
put
himself
he's
not
just
one
of
us
he's
not
just
one
of
us
and
he
wants
to
make
it
clear
that
they
don't
think
he's
just
a
member
of
the
team
he is
not
he's
the
lord
of
the
team
Jesus
in the
gospels
starts
to
pray
Abba
singular
not
our
father
but
my
father
and
the
other
interesting
thing
is
that
rather
than
praying
our
father
he
starts
to
pray
my
dad
not
father
but
dad
if
one
of
my
students
call
me
dad
or
daddy
you
know
couple
slaps
I'm
not
anybody's
dad
certainly
not
my
students
but
Jesus
calls
the
father
dad
whom
do I
allow
to
call
me
dad
my
children
and
that's
all
because
there's
an
intimate
relationship
between
me
and
my
children
that
doesn't
exist
between
me
and
any
of
you
you're
my
brothers
and
sisters
in
Christ
yes
you
are
and
I
don't
mean
that
likely
you
really
are
but
it's
my
son
and
my
daughter
who
call
me
dad
my
son
teaches
at
one
of
the
public
schools
here
and
he
still
calls
me
dad
he
never
calls
me
Samir
he
always
calls
me
dad
my
daughter
never
calls
me
Samir
she
always
calls
me
dad
because
there
is
an
intimate
relationship
between
me
and
them
so
Jesus
calls
the
father
my
dad
if
you
look
at
Romans
8
the
spirit
calls
into
you
know
we
go
and
we
cry
out
Abba
not
Avino
the
formal
but
the
informal
Abba
what
the
Holy
Spirit
does
is
to
allow
us
to
have
the
same
kind
of
intimate
relationship
to some
extent
that
exists
between
Jesus
and the
father
and now
between
us
and the
father
so
I
can
call
my
heavenly
father
dad
that
is
the
advantage
of
the
father
giving
us
the
Holy
Spirit
if
you
human
fathers
who
are
evil
know
how
to
give
good
gifts
to
your
children
how
much
more
will
your
heavenly
father
give
the
Holy
Spirit
and
why
does
he
want
to
give
the
Holy
Spirit
well
for
lots
of
things
but
one
of
them
to
enable
us
to
pray
with
intimacy
to
enable
us
to
know
that
we
are
adopted
by
God
to
enable
us
to
know
we're
not
on
our
own
even
when
I'm
blundering
with
my
prayer
I
have
the
Holy
Spirit
interceding
for
me
and
I
have
Jesus
interceding
for
me
and
so
don't
worry
if you
just
can't
articulate
the
right
word
don't
say
well
I
don't
have
enough
good
enough
vocabulary
God
can
the
Lord
the
Holy
Spirit
can
intercede
with
us
with
groanings
too
deep
forward
so
what
I
do
what
I
do
and
that
really
does
happen
to
me
I
know
in
the
morning
I
usually
spend
five
minutes
praying
father
just
saying
father
because
I
want
to
talk
to
my
father
but
I
don't
know
what
to
talk
about
or
what's
important
and
things
like
that
so
I
start
praying
Abba
and
then
after
a
while
I
feel
that
I
am
in
his
presence
not
that
I
go
by
feelings
you
know
I
don't
go
by
feelings
and
I
understand
that
the
father
is
listening
to
the
intercessions
of
Jesus
and
to
the
intercessions
of
the
Holy
Spirit
and
that
the
father
hears
my
prayers
I
wanted
to
share
this
with
you
as
we
reflect
on
prayer
I
hope
this
will
be
helpful
so
you
don't
feel
like
you
have
to
articulate
just
the
exact
right
words
to
get
with
God
Amen