All right.
Well, would you pray with me as we look at God's word again?
Father, we thank you for this morning, just the beautiful day you've given us.
It's just glorious.
We thank you for the fresh air and just the ocean we can see and smell.
And we thank you for the time we can spend with each other and just the time to stop
and pause and realize that you're with us and you're for us and you're ready to provide
for us and just the time we can spend as brothers and the time we can spend listening to you.
God, you've given us so much.
And now we ask you to give us more.
We ask that you'd speak to us.
Lord, we all struggle to trust you to give us what we need.
Lord, we sometimes doubt that you actually want to give us good things.
So, God, we need you to speak to us.
We need you to show us that you are good because in our natural selves we will keep doubting you.
Please speak to us.
Please show us yourself.
And please teach us to pray.
And in Jesus' name we ask.
Amen.
Well, one minute you have a steady income.
Two weeks later you're facing unemployment.
Unemployment.
You pray to God to be delivered from sexual temptation.
The next morning you wake up plagued with guilt again.
You keep serving in that ministry at church and that initial high is all but gone
and it's just a burden now.
That relationship just keeps repeating that destructive pattern with no relief.
You don't know how to stop it.
You wake up not sure how you're going to get through breakfast, let alone the rest of the day.
You arrive at church, you stand up to sing, you sit down and listen.
You mingle, you chat and you leave feeling like nothing and no one actually touched you, really.
You want your character to be more like Christ.
But if you ask him, you're afraid what God will take away to make you more like Christ.
Does God really want to give us life?
Is God just not hearing the prayers of the farmers who are in drought?
Does he care?
That farmers are suicidal?
Does he care?
Your child is still struggling at school, in class, socially?
Why would God force Glenn and Beth to permanently live away from PNG?
Why would he do that?
Australia as a nation just keeps rushing to become more and more anti-God.
You just can't handle the pressure of aging parents as well as every other responsibility you've got.
We keep putting on evangelistic events as a church and only one or two unbelievers show up.
Your son, your sister, your dad, your grandma.
Why doesn't God help them to have faith in Christ and be saved?
Is he not hearing our many prayers?
We cry, we pray, and sometimes we get nothing.
We have no doubt that God has the power to fix it, do we?
We've got no doubt about his power.
But does God really want to give us life?
If God doesn't give us the good we want, we begin to wonder, is he actually good?
I think this is one of the fundamental barriers to our prayers, isn't it?
It's that niggling doubt.
Does God actually want to give us life?
This is a big topic.
So I'd like to pray again.
So would you pray with me again?
Father, we know that you're good.
When we look at your son on the cross, we know it.
We know that you've given us eternal life.
We know you're good, but we still struggle to see you as good.
We still doubt.
Our experiences are painful.
We just wonder why you don't give us the good we want.
Please speak to us.
We need your spirit to be our teacher today.
Please speak to us.
Please show us that you're good.
Renew our confidence in you again.
Help us to pray.
To you as our good father, please help us.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
Well, in our last session, we learned that a prayerful man needs to be aware of his need,
needs to be shameless and bold in coming to God,
and needs to be trusting in Jesus' promise to receive what we need.
We're going to pick up where we left off.
If the previous parable focused on the person asking,
this parable focuses on God, the character of the one giving.
So we're going to do three things.
First, we're going to try and feel this parable.
Second, we'll find out three reasons why Jesus says we should ask for the Holy Spirit in particular.
And then finally, we'll return to our question that we started with.
Does God actually want to give us life?
So let's get into the parable.
Come with me to verses 11 and 12.
Verse 11.
What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish, give him a serpent?
Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
The child is asking for basic food to live, a fish and an egg.
So we've got plenty of fathers in this room.
So I want to ask, when your child is asked for food to live,
have you ever given them something that could kill them?
Confession time.
McDonald's.
Maybe he's allergic to an egg.
Allergic to egg, yeah.
Have you intentionally given them something to kill them?
This is like that awkward silence at weddings.
Like, anyone got any objections?
I'm not moving on.
No.
No?
No.
My father's just saying no.
I'm just trying to make it feel awkward.
That's my only goal.
Surprising.
It's unthinkable, isn't it?
Why the serpent and the scorpion here?
Is it just something harmful that Jesus is referring to?
Well, one person reckons it's because a fish looks like a snake
and a scorpion looks like an egg when it's curled up.
Yeah, anyway, that's ridiculous.
Have a look at chapter 10.
Chapter 10, verses 18 and 19.
So it's after the 72 disciples return from preaching the gospel.
Jesus declares,
They are images for the power and the instruments of Satan.
They represent anything that opposes God and all that God has made to be good.
Anything that opposes God's kingdom.
But even criminals in our society give their children good things,
like food and shelter,
even safety protection.
And if someone in our society does give what is evil,
even our unbelieving society decides that they are unworthy to continue being a father
and they remove the child.
No one doubts the desire of human fathers to give their child what is good.
We don't doubt it, do we?
Verse 13.
Have a look at verse 13.
If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?
In the previous parable,
we weren't to think of prayer as a mutual friend-to-friend relationship.
But here we are meant to adopt the father-son relationship as the basis for prayer
because God Himself is named Father.
There's nothing in the parable to suggest that this is a wrong way to pray.
We are meant to compare God to human fathers.
But Jesus calls the fathers evil.
In what way are human fathers evil?
Well, perhaps He's saying that all people oppose God and God's good ways.
But whatever the case is, Jesus doesn't explicitly say.
And so that should tell us it's not His main point.
He's making a bigger point than accusing fathers.
Because if all people are evil,
then it should surprise us that they give good gifts to their children.
It should surprise us.
But we don't doubt it.
None of us doubt it.
And Jesus Himself affirms that even evil fathers know how to give good gifts.
Isn't that a mercy from God?
None of us have had perfect fathers.
But what a mercy
that even evil fathers know how to give good gifts.
But do you feel the sting of what Jesus is saying?
We don't doubt evil fathers.
But we do doubt the only good father.
How much more will the heavenly father?
Has someone ever given you something or done something for you
that has just completely changed your attitude towards them?
So someone that comes to my mind was my best man at my wedding.
So some of you might have met him, Sam Dacey.
I actually went to school with him.
But we weren't friends at school.
Not for any particular reason.
I just, we just weren't friends.
What changed was on the post-HSC schoolies trip,
there was 10 of us 18-year-olds in one house after the HSC.
You could imagine the mess.
It was a bit chaotic.
There was only one person who helped me in the kitchen every day.
And it was Sam.
And it just convinced me.
He's actually a good guy.
He's worth getting to know.
I need to know this guy.
Now that's a very small example.
But in a much greater way,
God's goodness is shown by the supreme quality of the gift that he gives to us.
His Holy Spirit.
And we know the price of giving us this supreme gift.
We know the price was the death of the very one teaching us
how not to doubt in God's goodness.
God is heavenly.
He is not tempted by evil.
And he isn't the source of evil.
He is so good that he is willing to give all of himself.
Are you surprised by the mention of the Holy Spirit here?
You read the passage and you're just like, where'd that come from?
I think we expect to read what we find in the parallel account in Matthew 7.
So let me just read it to you.
7-11.
Now the Holy Spirit is no doubt a good thing.
So it's not like these accounts are contradicting each other.
But why has Luke emphasized the Holy Spirit at this point?
Well, I think part of the answer is that keeping with the parable of the Son asking for food,
the Holy Spirit is being portrayed as what we need to ask for in order to have life.
Why do we need the Holy Spirit to have life?
Well, it's not explicitly stated, is it?
But what I'm going to do, if we let the rest of Luke's Gospel
and the rest of the New Testament speak into this passage,
I think we can see in this passage three reasons that it implied
why we need the Holy Spirit to have life.
So we need the Holy Spirit.
One, so that we can relate to God as our Father.
We can know Him as Father.
Two, so that we can live in and for His kingdom.
And three, so that we can participate in Jesus' mission to redeem the world.
So let's go through each of these one by one.
First, we need the Holy Spirit so that we can relate to God as our Father.
Now, Jesus could be referring to God as Father just as His Father like He often does.
But I think there's two reasons why He's inviting His disciples to have that same relationship.
Most obviously, in the Lord's Prayer or the Disciples' Prayer,
we're to call Him Father.
We're to address Him as Father.
And secondly, the parable itself encourages us to have that paradigm,
to have that way of relating to God, not as friends, but as a Father and Son.
We need the Spirit so that we can share in Jesus' relationship to God.
Romans 8 tells us,
You receive the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry,
Abba, Father.
But let's not take this for granted.
I know we're used to that as Christians, but let's not take this for granted.
An Iranian woman, in an article from the Gospel Coalition,
she tells her story of coming to Christ in this way.
This is the first line of her story.
In Islam, there are 99 names for Allah.
Not one of them is Father.
Like the rest of the unbelieving world, we were once an orphan in this world.
Absolutely lost and alone.
Unbelievers don't know they are loved.
They don't know God's love.
They don't know God's providing wherever you are in all situations.
They don't have that.
They don't know it.
They don't have His direction, His guidance.
They don't have His nurturing discipline.
They don't have His promises.
They don't have His family to belong to.
They don't have a home to look forward to after death.
They are orphans.
We were once orphans.
But now we are God's children.
How good is that?
That is what we are.
To know God as our Father is at the heart of what is so good
about our new life in Christ.
But like me, don't you find yourself just forgetting that
and just not acting like you are God's child?
Even though we have God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit, as Christians,
we have it, I think we still are being encouraged here to pray
in specific situations that God would help us to believe
and act as His children.
We need the Holy Spirit so that we can relate to God as our Father.
Secondly, we need the Holy Spirit so that we can live in and for His kingdom.
When Luke talks about the kingdom of God,
he's not talking about a place.
He's mainly talking about God ruling.
So when Jesus teaches about the conflict between the kingdom of Satan
and the kingdom of God, it's not about two places that are conflicting.
It's about who is ruling, who is in control,
and what does their control bring?
Does it bring death or does it bring life?
So what kingdom does the average unbelieving Australian live in?
They've got their beautiful house, very secure house, their lovely car.
They've got their pets, their little pool.
They go to the beach.
They go on their holidays.
They've got friends.
They go out for drinks.
They have careers.
They've got their retirement.
What kingdom are they living in?
Spiritually speaking, they are under the rule of Satan.
They are in opposition to God's rule.
They don't want God to rule.
Or to use Paul's language in Romans,
they are under the rule of sin.
That rule of sin and Satan is what we once belonged to.
By God's mercy, we have been transferred.
We are no longer under that rule.
We are now under a different rule.
God's kingdom, God's rule.
And that rule brings life.
The Spirit has brought us into the kingdom of God.
Jesus says in John 3,
Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
We've been transferred.
That's why we pray.
Your kingdom come.
We want God to rule more.
We love his rule because it brings life.
We want him to rule in our hearts.
We want him to rule over every single aspect of our lives.
We want him to rule over the whole world
because his rule brings life.
Your kingdom come.
During one of my classes on Thursday,
I noticed my lecturer,
every now and then when he was teaching,
he would just lose his breath
and just give a shallow cough.
And I knew why.
He's got lung cancer
and he's had to have two really painful surgeries
of removing parts of both of his lungs.
And it just struck me.
Why on earth?
With the time he's got left,
is he here with us?
What's he doing?
I was moved by what he asked for prayer for
in the weekly newsletter.
He asked,
pray that the cancer treatment would be effective.
Shameless in coming to God.
Please be effective.
And ask that God would grant me length of days
to serve him.
Do you think that lecturer has a good life?
True life is to live for God
under his rule.
And the model prayer,
it tells us,
it teaches us
what we're to pray for
in order to live under God's rule.
As his people,
we relate to God as our father.
We want God's name to be made holy,
to be known for who he is
and worshipped
in our own hearts
and throughout the world.
We want God's kingdom to come
for God to bring his life-giving rule
over all things
and we want his rule to come in full
with Christ.
We want God's kingdom now
and we want it
in full.
As his people,
we look to our father
to provide in all situations.
We need our sins forgiven
in Christ
so that we can relate
to our father
without fear of punishment.
We need the grace
to forgive each other
because we are a kingdom of people,
not just individuals.
And we need to be kept
from every temptation
that would cause us
to seek anything
other than God's kingdom.
It helps us to know
what to pray for
to live in God's kingdom.
True life
is to live for God
under his rule.
We have been transferred
by the spirit
from the rule of sin and Satan
to the rule of God
and it brings life.
But lastly,
we need the spirit
so that we can participate
in Jesus' mission
to redeem the world.
In Luke's gospel,
the Holy Spirit
is the one empowering Jesus
on his mission.
At his birth,
at his baptism.
In Luke 4,
when Jesus begins his ministry,
how does he describe his ministry?
He reads from Isaiah,
the spirit of the Lord
is upon me
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news
to the poor.
And then Jesus concludes
his ministry on earth
by promising to send
the Holy Spirit.
Then in volume 2
of Luke's gospel in Acts,
there we see the disciples
getting the Holy Spirit
so that they can continue
Jesus' mission
to save people,
to redeem people.
This is the same spirit
that we have.
Individually and together
as the church,
God uses our witness,
our witness
to the life we have in Christ
to bring others
from death to life.
Isn't that how you got saved?
someone,
a church,
probably both,
you just saw
something different,
you heard something different,
you heard the gospel
and you were saved.
God is using us
as a church
and as individuals.
He empowers us.
We don't do it alone.
We have the spirit
to continue Jesus' mission.
What a life
of purpose we have.
We need the Holy Spirit
so that we can relate
to God as our Father,
so that we can live in
and fall God's kingdom
and so that we can continue
and participate
in Jesus' mission
to the world.
So let's return
to our question.
Does God really want
to give us life?
Well, that depends
on whether
what we think
will give us life
lines up with
what God thinks.
will give us life.
God is so good
that he offers us
his life
by the Spirit,
bringing us
into that eternal love
between Father,
Son and Spirit,
giving us eternal purpose
in everything we do
as we live
under his rule
and empowering us
to demonstrate
and declare together
as God's people
the wonderful gospel
that saved us
and he uses that
to save other orphans.
Does God really
want to give us life?
Yes, he does.
He's good.
He does.
Should this life
by the Spirit
overflow
to the point
of removing our desires
for other things,
other temporary things?
sometimes,
sometimes it will
or at least
it should
only let those things
have the intensity
of desire
that they actually deserve.
But God,
have you seen
the day outside?
He gives us so much.
He's the God
of creation
as well as redemption.
He's the God
of creation
as well as
the new creation.
He so often
gives us
other things
as well.
But let's trust him.
Let's trust him
to decide
whether we need
to go without
something
in order
to have something
better.
Let's trust our Father.
And if what you desire
is good,
then
we won't have time
to spend
looking at this today,
but you need to hear
another parable.
You need to remember
the parable in Luke 18
of the persistent widow.
Luke says,
Jesus told his disciples
this parable
to show them
that they should
always pray
and not give up.
Keep praying.
Keep asking.
So life
by the Spirit.
How should this
change the way
we pray?
Let me give
two
very
particular
examples
because
I'm really
hoping that
we will be
very particular
when we pray
for true life
by the Spirit.
If you don't know
what to pray for
in a situation,
ask God for the
Holy Spirit.
Just pray that.
That's fine.
That's good.
But
let me give you
an example
of how we can
pray like this.
A few of you
are playing soccer
after this.
So I know
this one
from experience.
Why not pray
that you have
the assurance
and just
you know
God is your
Father,
the assurance
of being
His child
rather than
having to
prove yourself
in the soccer
field.
You don't
have to be
the best
soccer player.
You're God's
child.
That opposition
are brothers.
Not enemies.
If you
see yourself
and know
God as your
Father,
it will just
completely change
the way you
look at it.
Pray for that.
Pray that you
would seek
God's rule
when you're
on that
soccer field.
It's not like
God's rule
stops before
you walk out
on the pitch
and then once
the whistle
blows,
then you've
got to be
a Christian
again.
Pray for
God's rule.
A few
examples that
we know
that God
tells us
to do
which will
bring life
is submitting
to authority,
to the
ref in that
case.
Pray that
God would
give you
submission
as you
submit to
God.
Pray that
you would
seek the
interests of
others even
to the point
of sitting
on the
bench.
Seek
God's
rule.
Seek
others to
come under
the life-giving
rule of
God if
there's
non-Christians
on the
team.
Who gives
a rat's
poo whether
you win
or not?
It doesn't
matter.
But imagine
if God
uses soccer
to build a
friendship
that leads
to conversations
about life
and Christ,
either with
you or
others on
the team
or as a
church.
Wouldn't
that be
wonderful?
Wouldn't
that be
wonderful?
pray for
God's
life-giving
spirit in
everything,
even in
the ordinary
things of
life.
What about
when someone
tells you
off for
something you
did?
Someone has
a go at
you?
Pray for
the assurance
of being
God's
child, of
knowing God
as your
father.
Your
identity
doesn't come
from what
they think
of you.
or what
you think
of you.
It comes
from who
you are
in Christ.
You are
a child
of God.
Seek
God's
rule.
Don't
just do
whatever
they tell
you off
for.
Ask
for God's
wisdom to
know whether
that's God's
will or not.
It will
help you to
know whether
you should
accept that
rebuke or
not to
accept it.
God's
rule in
that situation.
Maybe even
pray, God
help me to
want correction
and striving
for peace.
Pray that
this conflict
that's happening
will result in
peace.
Do you see
how assurance
as a child
of God?
God's
rule, what
he says, his
wisdom in
situations will
bring life.
And it may
even result in
unbelievers being
saved.
Jesus says that
the love we have
for one another
will be a witness
to the world
even when we
disagree with
one another.
And if it's
a non-believer
who's having
a go at
you, what
an opportunity
to apologise
and show
them the
goodness of
confessing
sin and
wrong.
Don't be
worried about
that.
What an
opportunity
God has
given you
to demonstrate
the gospel.
Or if
they've
wronged you
to forgive
them.
Now I
know they're
very simple
examples but
I'm just
trying to
show we
need to
pray for
the spirit
in everything
in life.
in the
nitty-gritty
details.
God is
ready to
give us
more of
his life.
So let's
ask and
it will be
given to
you.
Seek and
you will
find.
Knock and
it will
be open
to you.
Let me
pray.
Now
Father we
confess that
so much of
what we want
in life is
not what
you say
will give
us life.
Forgive us
for this
God.
Forgive us
most of
all for
when this
makes us
doubt your
goodness.
But God
there are
also things
that are
good and
are your
ways that
we don't
have at
the moment.
We know
that we
live in a
sinful and
broken world
world where
Satan is
still at
work.
God that
really hurts.
Help us to
trust you.
Help us to
persist in
prayer to you.
God please
help us to
trust you that
you're using
these painful
situations to
give us true
life.
To know you
as our
father.
To have you
rule over
every aspect
of our
life.
Lord even
use it to
bring others
to have
life.
God help us
to trust you.
You are
good.
You've given
us your son.
You've given
us your
spirit.
Please
train us
to pray for
what will
really give
us life.
Please keep
training us to
be bold in
coming to
you for all
that we
need.
And God
ultimately we
pray that your
kingdom will
come.
We want
Christ to
return.
Please come
back soon.
In Jesus
name we pray.
Amen.