“The Just Shall Live By Faith”

New King James Version                          Written by: David Hicks

 

Romans 1:17 “ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Galatians 3:11 “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith."

Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

“Articles of Faith"

An Orderly Account Of The Greatest Story Ever Told

(A Study in Luke)

Chapter 11:1-13:

One of the greatest forms of a devotional life to God is often expressed in prayerfulness. This was recognized from the very beginning; after the birth of Seth's son (Enosh), men began to call on the name of the Lord – Genesis 4:26. It should not surprise us at all that the Lord would regularly instruct His disciples how they should pray.

In Matthew 6:9-15, Jesus would instruct disciples how they should pray as part of His Sermon on the Mount. This version is virtually the duplicate of this account in Luke, except a little longer and it was preceded by specific warnings against prayers proclaimed for the praise of men or repetitious like the heathens.

Our text begins with the Lord being asked to teach one of His disciples to pray, as John also taught his disciples. Many have called this prayer, “The Lord's Prayer”; however, this is extremely inaccurate. Jesus is teaching His disciples how they should pray. It would be far more accurate to state that the prayer of Jesus in John the seventeenth chapter was truly the Lord's prayer, as only He could pray this prayer!

Text #1:

Luke 11:1-4 “Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 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.”

First, we have to recognize that Jesus is teaching His disciples to pray prior to the coming of the kingdom. For Christians, some of the content does not apply and the Holy Spirit through the scriptures has taught us how we should pray “IN” the kingdom (such as praying through the name of Christ as He now makes intercession for us – Hebrews 7:25). We will list some of the important things for us, as Christians, to learn from this prayer, but also we must recognize that we combine the lessons here with all the Spirit has revealed concerning how we as citizens of the kingdom should pray.

Hallowed: This comes from the Hebrew, ‘haloed ' and means to render or treat as holy. To hallow something is to give the maximum reverence, respect, and sacredness towards.

This Prayer Teaches:

1) God is to be Glorified in Name.

2) God is to be Glorified in the coming kingdom.

3) God is to be Glorified as the only Power to overcome evil.

In Addition:

1)  Each day and the blessings that sustain us in this life are a gift. Give thanks!

2)  All sin is against God and He is the only source by which sin can be blotted out (now through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son!).

3)  As children of God there is the expectation that we mimic His character and forgive any who are indebted to us.

4)  God does not tempt (James 1:13), temptation comes when one is drawn away by his or her own desires. Here Jesus is instructing them to ask God to lead them away from this source of power the evil one has over them. This was something the Apostle Paul knew and revealed – read: II Timothy 4:17-18.

From the actual instruction of how to pray, the Lord would now move on to encourage constant prayer.

Text #2:

Luke 11:5-8 “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; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; 7 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; I cannot rise and give to you'? 8 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.”

Although it might seem strange for this friend to come at midnight , it was a customary practice to travel at night in this land particularly in the summer to avoid the heat. However, even in this case this is a most unreasonable hour of the night for a friend to come, particularly to admit they are unprepared for guests.

Now this story is not given to point out the un-prepared state of the man who went to his friend at midnight . It is told to express that if a selfish man can be overcome through persistence, how much more then a generous and benevolent God? Constant prayer is being encouraged!

This concept of continuous prayer is now expressed and developed to include matching prayer with devotion, in the next set of instructions.

Text #3:

Luke 11:9-13 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

See also: Matthew 7:7-11.

Ask, seek, and knock: Three very specific things are encouraged to practice and are explained as containing rewards for those who practice them. First, there is the instruction to “ask”, this is the use of the voice. Second, is to “seek”, this requires the motion and effort of the body. Third, is to “ knock”, which implies an effort to overcome obstacles.

This all describes the entire effort of man to seek the righteousness of God, not just in prayer, but in deeds, and in the effort to overcome this world. In the letter of James, he would say that, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” – James 5:16. This likewise expresses the needs of man, to not only consistently pray, but to match the consistency of prayer with the righteous production that God's word leads us towards.

Good Gifts: They knew in the practice of hospitality that giving needed things was a kindness expected and received. Likewise, Jesus is instructing that if they practice righteousness as revealed in the Law and the Prophets (this is the “good things” in Matthew's account – 7:11-12, this is the instruction we call the golden rule, that Jesus would teach along with loving the Lord God with all your heart, was all the Law and Prophets – Matthew 22:37-40), much more shall God give unto them. God is the source of all good gifts (James 1:17), the greatest of these gifts, is the revelation of His will.

Here Jesus is speaking to His disciples (“So I say to you”), thus the Holy Spirit being mentioned here was for them and would assist them in the work the Lord was giving them, to assist Him (in a similar way as when He sent the 12 and the 70 out with power). In all this however, the Spirit would only reveal and empower them to know and do the will of the Father.

Next: “A House Divided Cannot Stand”