Luke 11
THE MODEL PRAYER
1 He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

• All the Jewish prayers (Pharisaic Judaism) were read from a Jewish prayer book.
• Jesus prayed without reading.
• Matthew 6 – May 28, 2017 - #12

2 He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say,
Father, your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,

• Pre-cross prayer.
• Hebrews 9:22 - “Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.”
• How many times did that happen?
• Thanks for forgiveness
• Because this is “red Letter” it is still taught as necessary.
• Teach prayer on context

for we ourselves also forgive everyone
in debt to us.
And do not bring us into temptation.”
 
ASK, SEARCH, KNOCK

• Does God get tired of the same prayer requests?

5 He also said to them: “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ 7 Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness (persistence), he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.

• Keep praying.
• As a group… it intensifies.

10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 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?”

• Jesus just told the Pharisees they are quite the opposite of God.
• Ephesians 1:3 - Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.[1]

 
A HOUSE DIVIDED
14 Now he was driving out a demon that was mute.

• What is special about this miracle?

When the demon came out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds (multitude) were amazed.

• Only the Messiah could cast a demon out of a mute.
• The others casts demons out by calling on the name of the demons.
• Matthew 12 – Pharisees accused Jesus of doing this miracle under the power of Beelzebul.

15 But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”

• The crowds should have been rejoicing for the healing that took place… quite the opposite.
• Now the multitudes took on the belief system of their leaders.

16 And others, as a test, were demanding of him a sign from heaven.

• “All your miracles come from hell.”
• Now they were testing God.

17 Knowing their thoughts, he told them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself falls.

• Same response as Matthew 12. (06/25/17)

18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?

• They were so illogical.
• If Jesus & Satan are on the same team, why would they be fighting against each other.
• Jesus just cast out a demon.

For you say I drive out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out?

• The Pharisees are doing very similar miracles and you are not condemning them.
• How do their works differ?

For this reason, they will be your judges. 20 If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his estate, his possessions are secure. 22 But when one stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, he takes from him all his weapons he trusted in, and divides up his plunder.

• Jesus has just described Himself as a hero.
• In a season of super hero movies… Jesus proves to be better than Marvel & DC combined.

23 Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters.

• Can you imagine Jesus eyeballing the crowd as He makes this last statement?
• You can’t stand here in the middle of the battle and not choose a side.
• Your indecision is your choice.

 
AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT’S RETURN
24 “When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places looking for rest, and not finding rest, it then says, ‘I’ll go back to my house that I came from.’ 25 Returning, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that person’s last condition is worse than the first.”

• Two things here: 1) The healed person could have easily made no choice to pursue God and his situation became worse than before.
• 2) Jesus could easily be foreshadowing what was to come for His Jewish nation. John the Baptist came, Jesus came and indecision ruled. Destruction came in 70 AD.
• How much history would have been impacted if Jesus would not have come?

 
TRUE BLESSEDNESS
27 As he was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the one who nursed you!”
28 He said, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”

• It is not about His earthly ties but His heavenly ties.
• Keep the Law…

 
THE SIGN OF JONAH
29 As the crowds were increasing,

• The disciples were impressed with the numbers (Luke recorded this) but Jesus was not.

he began saying: “This generation is an evil generation. It demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh (capital of Assyria), so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.

• What is the one sign they will see? Resurrection
• Lazarus
• Jesus

31 The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and look—something greater than Solomon is here.

• The Queen of Sheba came all the way from the south to hear the wisdom of Solomon, yet Jesus stands right in front of them and they cannot hear it.
• The Gentiles will end up judging the Jewish nation.

32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s preaching, and look—something greater than Jonah is here.

• Even the corrupt men of Nineveh believed and repented.

 
THE LAMP OF THE BODY
33 “No one lights a lamp and puts it in the cellar or under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see its light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is also full of light. But when it is bad, your body is also full of darkness.

• The brightest sun cannot enable a blind man to see.[2]

35 Take care, then, that the light in you is not darkness. 36 If, therefore, your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be entirely illuminated, as when a lamp shines its light on you.”
 
RELIGIOUS HYPOCRISY DENOUNCED
37 As he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him. So he went in and reclined at the table. 38 When the Pharisee saw this, he was amazed that he did not first perform the ritual washing before dinner.

• What can you learn from this statement about the purpose of this invite/dinner?
• The Pharisee was looking for something to accuse Jesus.

39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and evil.

• Pharisees (religious people) have a tendency to draw their students to them personally.
• Therefore, they need to be perfect on the outside.
• Hollywood doesn’t want anything to do with people who “blow it”.

40 Fools! Didn’t he who made the outside make the inside too?

• the same God who created the outside also created the inside, the “inner person” that also needs cleansing (Ps. 51:6, 10).[3]


• Bob Warren taught there were 5 stages of growth:
• 1) You’re a heathen – Born spiritually dead and never had ears to hear or eyes to see and you are perfectly fine with that because it is your sinful nature. It is all about “me”.
• 2) You’re a religious person – You do all the good things to make yourself look good. You pray a prayer. You come to church, you keep the 10 commandments, etc. You realize you have a sinful nature.
• 3) You’re a new believer – You are here and waiting for God to fix all your bad behavior and change your life for you.
• 4) You understand your identity – You know you are a holy, righteous, forgiven saint but you are still waiting for God to align your behavior with who you know you are. God is going to give you the strength to fix myself (exterior).
• 5) You not only understand that you are a new creation but you also realize that it is God’s responsibility to change your behavior. “I can’t fix my behavior.” Then you trust and rest. This is real life.
• The way to clean up a dirty vocabulary is not to brush your teeth but to cleanse your heart.[4]

41 But give from what is within to the poor, and then everything is clean for you.
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of mint, rue, and every kind of herb, and you bypass justice and love for God. These things you should have done without neglecting the others.

• Tithing and didn’t help those in need.

43 “Woe to you Pharisees! You love the front seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

• Pride

44 “Woe to you! You are like unmarked graves; the people who walk over them don’t know it.”

• You are causing people to fall into holes and die.

45 One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things you insult us too.”
46 Then he said: “Woe also to you experts in the law! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, and yet you yourselves don’t touch these burdens with one of your fingers.
47 “Woe to you! You build tombs for the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 Therefore, you are witnesses that you approve the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their monuments. 49 Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that this generation may be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world--51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.
“Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible.
52 “Woe to you experts in the law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn’t go in yourselves, and you hindered those who were trying to go in.”

• Religious people will try to kill you.
• Religion will never change one’s heart.
• Religion only causes people to try to conform in their behavior and it is impossible.
• Religion will kill you.

53 When he left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and to cross-examine him about many things; 54 they were lying in wait for him to trap him in something he said.[5]

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Eph 1:3). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 217). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 217). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 217). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Lk 11:1–54). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.