#90 Lu. 11:11-13  A LOVING CARING FATHER

Introduction:

    In the two previous texts Jesus has been teaching His
disciples about prayer.  He first gave them a model prayer to
teach them the very basics in how to pray.  Then He gave them a
more advanced lesson in prayer teaching them to be persistent in
asking for the things they desire.  First, be right in what you
ask for and second, when you are right be persistent.
    In our text today Jesus continues to teach about prayer.  It
just so happens that this text which is very appropriate for a
Father's Day text falls on Father's Day.  If I had tried to plan
my sermons out in advance so that in preaching through the Gospel
of Luke I would come to this text on Father's Day there is no way
in the world I could have done it.  But God could and I believe
that God did.
    I hope to accomplish two purposes in this message.  First, I
want to show you what is in this text is about another lesson in
prayer.  This is the third lesson in a row which Jesus gave on
prayer as recorded by Luke.  I am not sure that Jesus taught all
three lessons in a row in real life.  But Luke was led by the Holy
Spirit of God to record them all three in a row.  Secondly, I want
to show you what is in this text that relates to fathers and
Father's Day.

I.  The text as it relates to the Heavenly Father and to prayer

    You will note that again Jesus uses an illustration before He
sets forth the truth that He is teaching.  Usually He first sets
forth the truth and then He gives an illustration to help us to
understand the truth.  But here, as in the text last Sunday, He
first gives the illustration and then sets forth the truth that He
wants us to draw from the illustration.
    Here is the illustration.  V. 11, "If a son shall ask bread of
any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone?..." When
Jesus taught this lesson on prayer to His disciples, He indicated
in the wording of His question that there may have been some men
present who were not fathers.  But the question was, "If any one
of you, who is a father, should have one of your sons ask you for
bread, would you give him a stone?  Instead of giving him bread
would you give him a stone?"
    It seems to me that back in those days many of their small
loaves of bread may have come out of the oven looking much like
stones.  Now in my imagination I can envision some father who
likes to play practical jokes picking up one of those stones that
actually looks like a small loaf of bread and placing it on the
table on the plate that would normally hold bread.  Then when his
son asks for a piece of bread he would delight in handing him this
stone just as a gag.  They would both have a good laugh and then
he would give his son a real piece of bread.
    That is not what Jesus is talking about.  Jesus is talking
about a father playing a practical joke on his son.  What Jesus is
talking about is a father who would, in fact, substitute a stone
for bread and hand it to his son expecting him to eat it.  Jesus
was asking, "Would any of you do that?  Would you seriously expect
him to try to eat it?"
    The question seems to imply that Jesus expects that every one
of those men would answer "No.  No, I would not give my son a
stone for bread."
    Jesus then followed through with a second similar question.
(V.  11), "...or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a
serpent?"
Now once again Jesus is not talking about a practical joke.  He is
talking about the real manner in which a father deals with his
child.  Will a father be so cruel as to give a son a serpent when
the son asks for a fish.  Fish was a part of their regular diet
around the Sea of Galilee.  The answer would most certainly be,
"No.  Not even as a practical joke would I give my son a serpent
for a fish."  I think that among the fathers present here today
the answer here would still be, "No." It is unthinkable that any
father would deal so cruelly with a son whom he loves.
    Jesus then follows through with a third question right along
that same line.  V. 12, "Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer
him a scorpion?"  I understand that in that part of the world they
have scorpions about four or five inches long which, when they
ball up in a ball, look somewhat like an egg.  It would not, of
course, resemble a fried egg, but it would resemble an egg that is
still in its shell.  Would a loving father take a poisonous
scorpion whose sting is both painful and dangerous and put that
scorpion in the hand of a child who had asked for an egg?  The
answer is a most positive, "NO!  ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
    Jesus then sets forth the point that He is making to His
disciples.  V.  13, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good
gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"  You will note that
Luke says that the Heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask Him.  In Matthew 7:11 Matthew records the same
promise in saying that the Heavenly Father will give good things
to them that ask Him.  Matthew has Jesus saying that the God the
Father gives us many good things in answer to our prayers.  The
statement that Jesus made, therefore, was not intended to limit
the good thing which God the Father will give to be the Holy
Spirit only.  The Holy Spirit is not the only good thing which God
the Father will give to His children.  We may ask for a wide range
of good things and receive them.
    One reason Luke narrowed his record down to the Holy Spirit is
that the Holy Spirit is most certainly one of the best gifts that
God could ever give to us.  So rather than list all good gifts,
Luke just listed the best.  Another reason is that God the Father
uses the Holy Spirit to give us all the other good things that
come to us from God.  He is our intercessor who intercedes for us
to God when we pray.  We ask some other good thing and God the
Father gives it to us.  He gives it to us through the Holy Spirit.
But just as a child may ask his earthly father for bread or for a
fish or for an egg, even so a child of God today may ask his
Heavenly Father for many different things and receive them.
Through the intercessory work of the Holy Spirit God gives the
good things that are asked for.  But the Holy Spirit, Himself, is
a far more valuable gift than all the other gifts and that is the
point that Luke was making.
    What Jesus is teaching here about prayer is that since earthy
fathers, who have the sin nature dwelling within them, know how to
give good thing to their children, even so God, who is without
sin, knows how to give good things to His children.  This lesson
is given to encourage us to pray.  It is to encourage us to pray
more frequently.  It is to encourage us to pray more sincerely.
It is to encourage us to pray with greater faith.  It is to
encourage us to ask of bigger and better things than we otherwise
might ask for.
    However, let us keep in mind that in all of our prayers we are
to pray in keeping with what Jesus taught in the model prayer.  We
are to pray only for things that would honor and glorify the name
of God.  We are not to pray selfishly.  We are not to ask God for
a lifetime supply of whatever we ask for.  We are to pray for our
daily needs.  Then if God wants to give us more that is His
business and we should use what He gives for His honor and glory.
    Never-the-less,  we are to feel free to come before God and
ask.  He is our Father.  He is our Heavenly Father.  He is our
loving, caring Heavenly Father.  We do not hesitant to ask our
earthly fathers who have the sin nature to give us good things and
we are not to hesitate to ask God our Heavenly Father to give us
good things.  In keeping with our text last Sunday let me say,
"Ask and keep on asking.  Seek and keep on seeking.  Knock and
keep on knocking." God will give and keep on giving.

II.  The text as it relates to earthly fathers and to Father's Day

    But now let me turn to our text with a view to learn something
that would be a blessing to us here on this Father's Day.  We
learn that earthly fathers know how to give good things to their
children.  Even in spite of the sin nature that all have inherited
form Adam, yet earthly fathers have a natural love for their
children.  They want to do good things for them.  I think we can
say that God has placed this love within the hearts of fathers.
That is how we can account for it being there.  A man would have
to be very very mean not to care about his own children whom he
has fathered and brought into this world.
    We recognize, of course, that this natural love that God has
placed within fathers has been greatly marred by the sin nature
which we have all inherited from Adam.  But even though it has
been marred, it has not been destroyed.  Somewhere within the
heart of every father there is that loving caring attitude toward
his children and there is a strong desire to do good for them.
    Children learn this rather quickly and they do not hesitate to
take advantage of it.  They may even take unfair advantage of dad
and ask him for things which they know that they should not ask.
They know that dad is an old softie and they take advantage of
that.  In spite of this, still it is good that children can feel
free to come to their dad and ask for the things that they need.
It is even good that they feel free to ask for some of the things
that go beyond their necessities.
     But fathers need to learn to make their decisions on the
basis of what is best for the child rather than what the children
ask for.  In other words, it is not good to be an old softie all
of the time and give a child just whatever he asks for regardless.
God does not deal with His children that way.  He most certainly
desires to give us what we ask for, but He is wise enough to make
His decisions on what is best rather than on what is asked.
    Dads, learn to say, "No" when you know that is what is best.
If your son should ask for bread or a fish or an egg it would not
be good for your fathers to give him a you a stone or a serpent or
a scorpion.  But if he asks for a stone or a serpent or a
scorpion, it would be your responsibility to give him bread, or a
fish or an egg instead.  Now you may say, "But my son would never
ask for a stone or a serpent or a scorpion."  I am sure that is
true, but the chances are that he will ask for something that will
be just as harmful and just as dangerous.  It is your
responsibility to learn to say "No" to such requests.
    Children, learn to trust your father's judgment.  Learn that
when he says "No" he has a pretty good reason for saying "No." He
loves you.  He cares what happens to you.  He is looking out for
your best interest.
    Fathers, let me discuss with you some of the good things you
ought to be giving to your children.  You ought to be making a
living for them and giving them the necessities of life.  I feel
sure that you are doing your dead level best to do that and you
should.
    You ought also to be giving them a good example to follow.  I
am aware that there is no way for you to live a perfect life
before them.  Wouldn't it be great if you could?  But you can't.
But just because you cannot live a perfect life before them does
not mean that you should let all the bars down.  You should strive
to set a good example before them.  Let me tell you that the
father who sets a good example before his children gives them a
gift that is more valuable than all the money he will spend on
them in a lifetime.
    Our children are living in a world where most of the moral
values that are so essential to a good life have been discarded.
Thank God there are still some parents who are trying to teach
their children right.  But it is not enough to tell your children
what standards you believe in.  They need to be able to see that
you are trying to live by those standards.  If they see that you
do not live by those standards then you had might as well save
your breath.  They are not going to listen to what you say.
Children need a role model and the best possible role model in the
world for them is their father.
    Fathers, above all give your children spiritual leadership.
Long before there was such a thing as a New Testament church in
this world there were families.  The father was the spiritual
leader for the family.  Long before there was a tabernacle or
temple as a place of worship there were families and the father
was the spiritual leader for the family.  Long before there were
Old Testament priests and prophets there were families and the
father was the spiritual leader in those families.  Long before
there were New Testament churches there were families and the
father was the spiritual leader for the family.  He set the pace.
He led the way.
    Even today the father still has a very important place of
spiritual leadership in the family.  He should take the lead in
Bible reading and studying the Sunday school lesson.  He should
take the lead in establishing a prayer life in the family members.
He should take the lead in going to Sunday school and church.  He
should take the lead in seeing to it that his children know how to
stay out of the fires of hell and how to go to heaven.  He should
take the lead in helping them to understand the Bible and the
things they hear the preacher preach.  He should take the lead in
helping them to apply the things they hear at church to their
daily lives.  He should set the example in living for God and he
should lead his children to do so.  The father who will do so will
give his children something that is worth more than all the money
in the world that he could give to them or spend on them.

Conclusion:

    Let me ask each of you fathers a very serious question.  As it
stands right now, would you want your son or your daughter to
spend eternity where you are going to spend your's?  Let me say to
you that there is a better than average chance that wherever you
are going that is where your children will go.
    I am going to ask you to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and put
your trust in Jesus to save your soul.
    I am going to also call upon every Christian father here this
morning to turn to the Lord right now and seek His help in your
becoming the role model for your children that you ought to be.
Be in church on a regular basis and that is a good start in the
right direction.  There is, of course, a lot more to setting a
good example for your children than just going to church, but I
can assure that you cannot set the right example before them
without going to church.  Church going is a good place to start.