August 30th, 2015 - Samir Massouh

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.

Luke 11 · chapter mention

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,

Luke 11 · chapter mention

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,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

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,

Hebrews 2:14

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

Romans 8:15

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

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.

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

John 20:17

chapter

20

verse

17

in

the

gospel

of

John

John 20:17

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