LIFE LESSONS
FRIENDS OF PAUL: LUKE
DR. JIM DIXON
2 TIMOTHY 4:6-11
FEBRUARY 5, 2006
According to very early and very strong tradition, Luke wrote two books of the Bible. He wrote the third Gospel which bears his name, the Gospel of Luke and of course he also wrote the fifth Book of the New Testament, The Acts of the Apostles. Both of these books are addressed to a man name Theophalus, so Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, and he addressed them to a man whose name was Theophalus. Of course scholars have debated, “Who is this guy?”
The name Theophalus means, “lover of God” or “beloved of God” and there are some scholars who view Theophalus as a kind of collective name so that Luke would be addressing his books to all those who love God and to all those who are beloved of God, but most scholars believe that Theophalus was a personal name, and it was an individual. They believe this because Luke applied an honorific to the name Theophalus, a Roman honorific. He says, “Most excellent Theophalus.” This, of course, is an honorific to address high Roman officials. In fact Luke himself, in Acts, chapter 23 and in Acts, chapter 24 uses this same honorific in addressing the Roman Procurator. So most Roman scholars believe that the Gospel of Luke in the Book of Acts are both written to a high Roman official. Traditionally that high Roman official was a man named Titus Flavius Clemens and he was the fourth cousin of the Emperor of Rome.
You see many scholars believe that when Luke wrote the Gospel and when Luke wrote Acts, the Apostle Paul was under trial, and they believe that Luke wrote the Gospel, and he wrote the Acts as a kind of defense for the Apostle Paul and indeed a defense of Christianity itself. We really cannot know these things, but we do know this. We know that Luke was a very close friend of the Apostle Paul’s, that he was with Paul even to the moment of Paul’s martyrdom.
We also know that Luke had a very special interest in the third person of the Holy Trinity. Luke had a particular interest in the person and work of the Holy Spirit, so Luke ends his Gospel with the promise of Pentecost, and he begins the Book of Acts with the event of Pentecost itself and the descent of the Holy Spirit “like a mighty wind upon the early church empowering the early church for ministry.” As you go through the Acts of the Apostles, you read about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you read about gifts of the Holy Spirit such as glossolalia and the gift of tongues and speaking in tongues. Of course in Luke’s Gospel, Luke emphasizes that Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit, confirmed by the Holy Spirit, empowered for ministry by the Holy Spirit. He wrought miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit, and it was Jesus who imparted the Holy Spirit to the Church, the emphasis on the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
So this morning as we look at Luke, our life lessons concern the ministry of the Holy Spirit, how the Holy Spirit ministered in Luke’s life and how the Holy Spirit wants to minister in our lives. Our first life lesson is this. The Holy Spirit wants to release His power for your sanctification. The Holy Spirit wants to sanctify you. The word sanctification comes from the word “sanctus” which means, “holy.” It is the equivalent of the Greek word “hagios.” These words are associated with the Holy Spirit Himself because the Holy Spirit is the “Spiritus Sanctus” in Latin, “the Holy Spirit.” Of course Pneuma Hagion, the Holy Spirit in Greek – it is the Holy Spirit who sanctifies. It is the Holy Spirit who can make us holy. Do you want that? Do you long for holiness? Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? This is the work of the Holy Spirit amongst the people of Christ, to sanctify us, to make us holy
There is a great deal of mystery surrounding the person of Luke. He is a very mysterious person historically. He is only mentioned three times in the writings of Paul. Even though he was clearly Paul’s friend, Paul only mentions him three times. Paul mentions him in the Book of Philemon where he calls Luke his “co-worker,” “sunergos,” “co-laborer, fellow minister.” Then Paul mentions Luke in Colossians, chapter 4, where Paul implies that Luke is a Gentile and Paul distinguishes his friend Luke from his other friends who are circumcised or Jewish. At least Paul distinguishes Luke from the circumcision party within Judaism.
Then, of course, we come to 2 Timothy, chapter 4, and Paul mentions the loyalty and the faithfulness of Luke and how Paul was in prison and approaching martyrdom. Only Luke was with him. Now Luke does not mention himself in the Book of Acts unless Lucius in Acts 13 is Luke and indeed Lucius might be Luke because we know that those names are probably two forms of the same name. But what is really interesting about the Book of Acts is the “we” sections. In parts of the Book of Acts, particularly Acts 16, Acts 20, Acts 27 and Acts 28, Luke writes the Book using “we.” “We” did this. “We” did that. “We” went here. “We” went there. It is very evident to scholars that Luke was with Paul on much of his second missionary journey and much of his third missionary journey.
According to church tradition, Luke was born in Syria in the city of Antioch on the Mediterranean Sea. There are very strong traditions linking Luke with Antioch and Antioch was one of the four great centers of Christendom and it was at Antioch that followers of Jesus Christ were first called Christians.
According to church tradition, Luke was born into slavery. There were fifty million slaves in the Roman Empire, but we cannot be sure that Luke was one of them. According to church tradition, Luke was educated in the Greco Roman field of medicine, and we know this is true. The Bible itself tells us that Luke was a physician, and the Apostle Paul refers to Luke as the “beloved physician.” He was a doctor trained in medicine. Of course, according to church tradition, Luke was one of the seventy sent out by Jesus Christ two-by-two. Jesus Christ sent them out in ministry. We cannot know for sure but according to church tradition, Luke was one of the seventy. Of course according to church tradition Luke died a martyr’s death during the reign of Domician when Luke was 84 years of age. Today, Luke is the Patron Saint of Doctors, and he is also the Patron Saint of Artists. At the Syrian Church in the city of Jerusalem there is a painting of Mary that is attributed to Luke. At the Church of Santa Nagari in the city of Rome there is another painting attributed to Luke. The likelihood is Luke did not paint either one of those but of course Luke’s traditions are strong. There are scholars today who believe that the man of Macedonia in Paul’s vision in Acts, chapter 16, was Luke. There are scholars today who believe that the brother who was known for his great preaching ·throughout all the churches mentioned in 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, was Luke. But we cannot know these things for sure. There is a lot of mystery with regard to Luke, but we do know this. Luke was sanctified. The Spirit of God was at work in his life, and he had changed. The Spirit of God was molding him in righteousness, and he was becoming a new person. He was, of course, addressed by the early church as St. Luke, sanctus, holy. You understand. God wants you to be a saint. God wants me to be a saint. The Bible is clear. There is a sense in which all followers of Jesus Christ, everyone who has asked Christ to be Lord and Savior is already a saint in the declarative sense. We have been declared holy, forgiven, set apart for God but, you see, practically there is this process of sanctification where sin is increasingly removed from our life, and we become more like Jesus. That is sanctification and it is the great work of the Holy Spirit. What the Holy Spirit did in Luke’s life, the Holy Spirit wants to do in your life and in my life.
Many years ago Barb and I went with Gene and Lorna Kissinger on a missions trip. We went to the Kona Coast on the Big Island of Hawaii. That is the kind of mission trip I like. We went to the Kona Coast on the Big Island of Hawaii because that was the International Headquarters of YWAM. YWAM stands for Youth With A Mission. Of course YWAM sends missionaries all over the world influencing cultures for Christ but their International Headquarters are on the Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii and so we went there.
YWAM was founded by Loren Cunningham and Loren Cunningham has a gift of the Holy Spirit called “Word of Knowledge” and this gift of the Holy Spirit called “Word of Knowledge” gives Loren Cunningham discernment and many of the decisions he is made in his ministry have been based on a word of knowledge from God or from the Holy Spirit. We noticed when we worshipped with all the folks at YWAM, they all sought this gift of the Holy Spirit called “Word of Knowledge,” a beautiful gift.
Many years ago Barb and I went on another trip with Bob Beltz and Bo Mitchell and their wives. We went to Vancouver to a Vineyard Conference on Healing where John Wimber was a speaker. We noticed that virtually everybody at that conference was longing for a gift of the Holy Spirit called the “Gift of Healing.” They all longed for this rare and precious gift, the “Gift of Healing.”
My mom, on her side of the family, some of her relatives used to attend the Four-Square Church, a Pentecostal denomination. I remember on a few occasions I went with my mom to the Angeles Temple in Los Angeles, which was a Four-Square Church, a Pentecostal Church like the Assemblies of God and of course amongst the Pentecostal churches and more broadly amongst the charismatic churches, there is this longing for a gift of the Holy Spirit called, “Tongues” or “glossolalia,” a wonderful and beautiful gift. Of course in evangelicalism there is generally a kind of desire for the gift of teaching or proclamation, certainly an important gift for the edification of the body of Christ. So, you see, in Christendom, in the Christian world, you see Christians seeking manifestations of the Holy Spirit but who seeks sanctification. This is the great work of the Holy Spirit, more important than any other -¬ more important than any of the rest is sanctification. Who is seeking it? Do you long for it? Do I long for it? Do we really hunger and thirst for righteousness?
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians, chapter 3, verses 17 and 18, “The Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom and we all with unveiled faces beholding the glory of the Lord are being changed. “Metamorphoses. We are being changed from one degree of glory to another, and all of this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who changes us from one degree of glory to another. Do you long for that? Do you want that today? Do you want that in the rest of your life? This is the life lesson from Luke. In the year 1792, Princeton University gave out three honorary doctorates. The first was given to Thomas Jefferson who was at that time Secretary of State under George Washington. He was nine years away from the Presidency, the one who crafted the Declaration of Independence. The second honorary doctorate Alexander Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton was the Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington and the political rival of Thomas Jefferson. Obviously, Princeton University wanted to be fair and so they gave a doctorate to Thomas Jefferson and one to his rival, Alexander Hamilton. But it is the third honorary doctorate given in 1792 that I find interesting because they gave it to a man name John Newton. John Newton was not even an American citizen. He was a Baptist pastor in England. He was a former slave trader who now worked with William Wilberforce to try to bring about the abolition of slavery in England. It was John Newton, this man honored by Princeton University, who wrote that wonderful hymn, “Amazing Grace.” “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” A lot of Christians do not like those words. They do not like to sing those words. They do not like to think of themselves as a wretch, but John Newton had no problem with that. He knew he was a sinner saved by grace. He knew he was a sinner in desperate need of God’s grace, and he never ceased to marvel at the grace of Jesus Christ, and he longed for sanctification. He longed for the power of the Holy Spirit in sanctification.
Luke says, “When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you shall receive power.” Part of that power is given for the purpose of sanctification, transformation and change. Do you want that power? If you do, Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Luke, in the 11th chapter, that “Just as earthly dads go fallen give good gifts to their children who ask, so our Father in heaven will give the Holy Spirit to all who ask of Him.”
Have you ever asked for God to give you a greater portion of the Holy Spirit’s power? If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit has already come within you, but have you ever asked God to release a greater manifestation of the Spirit’s power in your life, Have you ever prayed that way? Jesus tells us we should do that. Luke, in chapter 11, tells us we should do that. Luke surely did that and have you done that? Do you pray every day for the power of the Holy Spirit to come and change you? That is the first life lesson from Luke.
The second life lesson from Luke concerns inspiration. You see, the Holy Spirit not only wants to sanctify us, but the Holy Spirit also wants to inspire us. The Holy Spirit wants to come and breathe on us.
Today, of course, is the Super Bowl. Barb and I are going to watch that. I am sure most of you are late this afternoon. Mike Holmgren is the Coach of the Seattle Seahawks, and they are playing in the Super Bowl, but Mike Holmgren’s wife will not be there and one of his daughters will not be there because Mike Holmgren’s wife Kathy and one of his four daughters have gone on a mission trip. They left Thursday for the Congo in Africa with the Evangelical Covenant Church to go on a medical mission trip seeking to serve Jesus Christ. Mike Holmgren said this week that what his wife and daughter are doing is far more important than what he is doing with regard to the Super Bowl. I hope you believe that.
Who inspires people to do what Kathy Holmgren is doing? Who inspires people to do what the Holmgren’s daughter is doing? There can be many motives in life but, you see, it is the Holy Spirit who gives such inspiration to God’s people. The word for inspiration biblically is the Greek word, “theopneustos.” That word literally means, “God breathed” and “God spirited.” Inspiration has to do with the breath of God. We think of the Holy Spirit as the breath of God coming upon God’s people. Do you want that? Do you want God to breathe on you and inspire you?
Many people marvel that Luke wrote two books of the Bible. Luke was not particularly prominent in the early church. He was not an Apostle. He was not like Peter or Paul or even like James or John. Little is known about Luke, and he was apparently a Gentile and yet God came upon him to write. Of course the testimony is strong from the early church. Virtually every source from the Muratorian Canon to Iranius, all the church fathers testify that Luke wrote these books.
There are a few scholars today who doubt it. ‘They say, “Well, Luke’s just kind of different from Paul and he wouldn’t sound different from Paul if he’d been Paul’s convert and disciple and so maybe Luke didn’t write those two books,” but of course that argument is bogus. There is no evidence that Paul converted Luke nor is there any evidence that Luke was Paul’s disciple. He was a disciple of Jesus Christ and a co-worker with Paul. Luke and Paul were simply friends, and they shared a common Lord, but Luke was a Gentile and Paul was a Jew. They had a different approach to their Christian faith though they were friends. So the testimony of Luke’s authorship is strong. But how could he have done it except by inspiration of the Holy Spirit? That is how Luke wrote the Gospel. That is how he wrote the Book of Acts.
Scholars can debate whether Luke used some of Mark as he crafted his gospel, whether he used the mysterious early church doctrine called “Q.” They can debate how much of it is based on Luke’s own experiences and friendships. We can only know those things when we get to heaven but, you see, by the inspiration of God Luke crafted these books, “theopneustos.”
Indeed, the whole Bible bears the breath of God. The whole Bible has the breath of God upon it. It is often said that it was the Council of Nicaeain the year 325 that chose the books to be in the New Testament, Canon. That is not exactly true. I mean it is true that the Council of Nicaeain 325 confirmed the authority of the New Testament Books but, you see, testimony had been given for centuries prior to the Council of Nicaearegarding which books had the breath of God upon them. One hundred and fifty years before the Council of Nicaeaever met, the Christian Churches were viewing the Books of the New Testament as authoritative, and they were circulating them because they could see the breath of God on them.
Some have questioned, “Well, what about the books that the Council of Nicaealeft out of the New Testament?” That is what Dan Brown, and the DaVinci Code argues is that the Council of Nicaeakind of just scripted certain books out of the New Testament that should have been in the New Testament. Dad Brown cites the Gnostic Gospels as an example of what should have been included in the New Testament and how bogus is that? The Gnostic Gospels were written more than a hundred years after the other books in the New Testament, and they were pseudepigraphic and spurious. The early church from the beginning did not sense the breath of God on those books. You see and you understand, the Council of Nicaeaitself sought the breath of God. They prayed with longing in their hearts that the Spirit of God would inspire them to discern them what was inspired, and the Church has trusted this.
In the year 1452, Johannesburg Guttenberg invented the printing press and from 1452 to 1456, Guttenberg printing 180 copies of the Bible, Guttenberg Bibles. Fifty remain today and they are worth millions. But what makes the Bible a treasure? What makes the Bible valuable? You see, what makes the Bible valuable is not Guttenberg. It is not rarity. What makes the Bible valuable is the breath of God on this Book. Here is the only question. Do you want the breath of God on your life? Do I want the breath of God on my life? Do you want His inspiration?
If you teach Sunday School, surely you want Him to breathe on you, inspire you. If you have kids, you are seeking to rear in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Surely you want God’s breath, you want His inspiration, His anointing. You want the Holy Spirit to come upon you. If you have a meeting with your boss tomorrow, you probably want the breath of God upon you, a little of God’s anointing, inspiration. If you are counseling in the inner city, tutoring an inner-city child, singing in the choir – whatever you are doing you want the Holy Spirit to inspire you, right? Do you ever ask for that? Do you ever pray that way? “Breathe on me, breath of God. Fill me with life anew.” Do you ever pray that way? “Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. Meld me, mold me, fill me, use me.” Do you ever pray that way?
Billy Graham has the breath of God upon him, inspired of the Holy Spirit when he preaches. Have you ever wondered how it is that Billy Graham had his crusades spanning 50 years of time… Have you ever wondered why every time he presents just a simple Gospel, tens of thousands of people stand up and ask Jesus into their heart? Have you ever wondered how that is possible? Inspiration! It is not about Billy Graham. It is about the Holy Spirit who has inspired Billy Graham and has breathed upon Billy Graham with powerful anointing. I have the anointing of the Holy Spirit but far less, in a much smaller measure. In proportion to my call, I have the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and without it I am powerless, absolutely powerless. And, you see, the Holy Spirit wants to inspire you in so many ways. He wants to anoint you, wants to come upon you.
Have you ever gone to visit a large powerful dam like the Hoover Dam? Have you ever approached a hydroelectric dam? Of course when you get to certain sections, there are wire fences and signs posted saying “Danger, High Voltage.” Those signs say, “Danger, High Voltage” because there are hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity – enough to go out and just toast all the homes in a city. But, you see, there are also powerful transformers in a dam and those transformers break all of that powerful electricity down into useable units, just right for you to use in your home.
Have you ever had a model railroad set? Have you ever done any model railroading with your children? I know my brothers and I did with my dad. My dad loved HO Model Railroading. We built layouts. You plug it into 110 volts which would be really dangerous except there is a transformer and it controls. It breaks it down. It controls the amount of electricity that flows through the track so that even little children can touch the train track. There is just a small amount of electricity there because of the transformer.
Understand biblically, the Holy Spirit is like a transformer, and He distributes the power of God, and He does it perfectly. He breaks it down into units just right for us. And so when you come and you pray today, “Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me,” He knows exactly what you need and how much power to give you and what is needed for inspiration in your life and transformation unto Christlikeness. There is a third life lesson this morning from Luke, a last one. The third life lesson concerns healing. The power of the Holy Spirit is also available for healing.
In the time of Christ, Jewish rabbis wore particular garb. Their clothing was unique to them. Jewish rabbis had robes and their robes had corners called “canauf.” On those corners were tassels, “seet-see” is the Hebrew for the tassels that hung from the corners of the rabbinical robes and those tassels in Hebrew were called “seet-see.”
When you look at the Book of Malachi, it is prophesied there that when the Messiah comes, He will be called The Son of Righteousness and He will come with healing in His wings. The word for wings is the Hebrew, “canauf,” the same as the corners of the rabbinical robe. According to Rob Bell and his book “Velvet Elvis,” there was a tradition in the Jewish community, a belief, that the Messiah would have healing in his tassels, his set-see, on the corners of His garments, the canauf. He would come with healing in his wings, healing in his corners, healing in his tassels, and Rob Bell says that’s why in Luke, chapter 8, the woman who had been ill for twelve years was desperate to get through the crowds that she might just touch the hem of Christ’s garment, that she might touch the corners, the tassels, because there’s healing in the wings.
I do not know whether Rob Bell is right. I have not been able to find in the rabbinical literature any mention of this tradition that the Messiah would have healing in His tassels. It seems like, if that were true, everybody would have been trying to touch the hem of Christ’s garment. Of course we do not really know whether Christ Himself actually wore the rabbinical garment. We do not know that. We do know this though. We know that that woman in Luke, chapter 8, when she touched the hem of Christ’s garment, when she touched His clothing, power went forth. That is what we are told. Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” because He sensed power had gone forth and she was healed instantly, power going forth from the Son of God.
Of course Luke describes Jesus Christ as “full filler of the Holy Spirit,” “the giver of the Holy Spirit,” “empowered by the Spirit to heal.” When we think of the power of the Holy Spirit going forth and healing, how would you like some of that? I would like a little of that. Healing is such an incredible thing, such a beautiful thing, such a wonderful thing. How many times have I visited someone at the hospital or had someone come to us as an Elder Board for prayer? I would love to have the power of the Holy Spirit in healing. I think, in some measure, that power is available. In some measure, the power of the Holy Spirit is available for healing. Luke understood this. You see, Luke was a doctor. He was a physician. The Greek words are “ho agapetos iatros.” They actually can mean, “my beloved physician” so that Paul was kind of, as we said earlier, viewing Luke as his personal doctor, his personal physician.
We do not know what kind of training Luke went through. Medicine was in its infancy in the 1st Century AD. We know that in the Greco-Roman world, in the Hellenized world, Asclepios was the God of Healing. If you went to Pergamum and Asia Minor, which today is called Bergama. Barb and I went there some years ago. You can see the ruins of the Asclepion which was like a hospital where people came to be healed by Asclepios, the God of Healing.
Of course the symbol of Asclepios was a snake, and the caduceus of the Cult of Asclepios was a serpentine staff, the symbol of medicine today in the American Medical Association. People throughout the Roman world came to the Asclepion. They would go to a chamber, and they would spend the night. They were ill. Snakes, non-venomous, non-poisonous snakes would be allowed to crawl over their body, hoping that god Asclepios would heal them. Pretty primitive but of course there was also in the Greek world those who were beginning to understand the human body and anatomy. There were early stages of surgery being conducted and of course they were becoming increasingly aware of herbs that had medicinal value. We do not know what Luke knew as a physician, but we know he knew this. He needed power beyond what earth could bring. He needed the power of heaven. He needed the power of the Holy Spirit.
Some of you have heard of Benjamin Rush. Benjamin Rush was a doctor in Colonial America. A brilliant man, educated at Princeton, graduated from Princeton at the age of fifteen. He went to medical school at Edinburgh, Scotland and then was part of the Continental Congress in Colonial America and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He did a study in 1790 in the city of Philadelphia. It was a statistical analysis of life expectancy in the city of Philadelphia. According to Benjamin Rush, for every hundred children born in 1790 in the city of Philadelphia, thirty-four would not reach age 6. Thirty-four out of every hundred children born. More incredibly, 25 – only twenty-five out of every hundred children born – would reach age 26. That was reality in Philadelphia in 1790.
We are blessed to live today, blessed to have the medicines we have today, the doctors we have today. We are so blessed. But, you see, doctors realize they do not have enough knowledge, they do not have enough power. Many doctors pray. Our son Drew just graduated from medical school. We are proud of him, but he knows the power of prayer. We have the same privilege, all of us, this privilege of prayer.
In the latter days of Luke’s life, he was with Paul when Paul was in prison in Rome. Luke, the doctor, was with Paul before Paul went to his martyrdom as the Emperor Nero beheaded him. We do not know the form that Luke’s ministry took. He could not heal Paul physically but there is no question he ministered to Paul’s soul and Paul’s spirit, and he ministered other times at healing. Of course Luke knew and Paul knew that for the Christian ultimately healing only comes through death.
But, you see, there is the power of the Spirit in healing, even in the healing of the soul, even in counseling. This is a form of healing. Do you want any of the-Spirit’s power in your life? Do you have any felt need for the Spirit’s power to come and minister in healing?
I do not know what God might do in your life and in our church if we all sought daily the power of the Holy Spirit for sanctification, for inspiration and yes even for the healing gifts. Let us look to the Lord with a word of prayer.