The Sermon on the Mount: Seeking What We Need

Introduction

Read Matthew 7:7-11

Matthew 7:7–11 (ESV)

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

This is another one of those passages that can get misused and abused.

Name it and Claim it theology.

God will give me what I want if I ask enough and believe hard enough for Him to give it to me.

First, we must Admit Our Need for Help

We are meant to see how this fits into the rest of the sermon we have looked at so far.

Jesus wants us to see our need for His help!

He has called us to be people of a certain character…

To see our spiritual brokenness, to mourn and hate our sin, to humble ourselves, to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to be merciful, pure in heart, and peacemakers, and to rejoice in persecution.

We are to be people who demonstrate Christ’s righteousness and influence in our lives.

Christ is calling us to a deeper obedience of the law than what was being taught. Jesus has called us to a righteousness that exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees. (Matthew 5:20).

We are not just to do the right things, we must do the right things from the right heart. We are not just to keep from harming people, we must also choose to love rather than hate and fester anger towards others. We are called to honor others, to be faithful to our words and promises, to not desire retribution, to love our enemies.

We are called to worship God, not just in word in deed, but in spirit and in truth. We are to give with right motives, seeking to please only God, not others. We are meant to pray, not seeking to manipulate God with our many words. And we are called to fast for our own benefit, not for what others might think of us.

We are called to hold loosely the things of this world, but to treasure Christ alone. And we are called to trust Him to provide rather than worry and trust ourselves.

And finally, we are called not to judge others, but rather to judge ourselves!

We are meant to see our need and our spiritual brokenness.

We are meant to go through here and ask ourselves, who can possibly live up to all that Christ has called us to and we are going to see that things are only getting harder as we go on.

Jesus wants us to see that the righteousness He is calling us to is impossible on our own. But while we cannot attain this righteousness, He has actually already provided what we need!

Romans 8:3–4 (ESV)

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

How did God do this? How did He condemn sin in the flesh?

He did this by sending Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice for our sin upon the cross. Through His shed blood, Christ has provided for us the righteousness that He is requiring of us.

While it is not wrong to ask for the things we might want or need in this life,

Such as a new truck

Extra money to pay the bills

healing from sickness and disease

And God does in His kindness and goodness often answer these requests.

.However, God is interested in meeting a greater need that we all have and share… our need for a righteousness that exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees! And only Christ can and has already provided that for all who come to Him by faith!

Second, we must Ask and Seek for the Help We Need

So, first we admit our need. Next, Jesus tells us to ask and seek for what we need and it will be given to us!

Jesus has already done the work of providing for what we need. But we need to call out to God to receive what He already wants to give to us!

Romans 10:11–13 (ESV)

For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Listen to the promise that is communicated here! All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved! They will receive the righteousness from Christ that alone can bring us into the presence of God. We can receive all that our souls need!

But this is not just for those who have yet to experience salvation. This is true even for those of us who have already been saved.

Even as we have experience and received Christ’s righteousness, we ought to continue to feel our need for His righteousness.

Remember, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Just because you have been saved and justified before God does not mean that you have arrived to where you need to be.

Isn’t it amazing, after you feed your kids a nice meal, what happens in a few hours? Or a few minutes? “I’m hungry!”

It’s the same thing spiritually, as we receive more of Christ’s righteousness, the more we realize how unrighteous we are and how we continue to need and seek for more of His righteousness.

So Jesus tells us to ask, seek, and knock. This should be our continual practice as we grow in righteousness in this life. Daily we are called to ask, seek, and knock!

We ask through prayer, asking God to fill us with the righteousness that only He can provide.

We seek, by placing ourselves in a place to receive His righteousness.

How do we seek Christ’s righteousness. It is one thing to ask, but if we ask with no real motivation to seek, it is a sign that we do not want what we are asking for.

We seek for His righteousness through the practice of the disciplines God has given to us, through prayer, reading of the Word, fasting, serving, giving, etc.

Now, to be clear, you can do all these things and not truly seek His righteousness. Matthew Chapter 6 describes how we can do these things wrongly.

Unsaved people can do these things and never find salvation and righteousness through doing these things. A muslim man prays five times a day. This does not mean that he has received Christ’s righteousness because he has not received him by faith.

But as we call out to God in faith in Christ, we seek for His righteousness through these spiritual disciplines, knowing that God will give us what we cannot earn on our own. And we recognize that God works through the reading of His Word, He changes our hearts as we pray, He draws us closer to Himself as we fast and detach ourselves from the things of this world.

We knock, by persistently and continually going to God for this righteousness.

We ask. But we do not simply ask and go on our way. We ask persistently, not because we have to annoy God to give us what we need, but because we know that we are in desperate need for this and we have a God who wants to give us His righteousness.

God longs for us to persistently come to Him with our needs and requests, especially when we are asking for His righteousness and holiness to be made manifest in our lives.

Finally, we can Approach Our God Who Perfectly Cares for Us

As we ask, seek, and knock, we do so in full trust and assurance that God is a perfect and loving Father who longs to give His children good gifts.

God Will Answer Our Prayers

God will not ignore or mock our requests.

What father would give his son a stone if he was asked for bread? Even as sinners, we want to do what is good and right for our children.

How much more will God do right to those who call out to Him for their needs and sustenance?

We can ask by Approaching God in confidence that He truly does care for us and will do what is right and best for us!

God Will Answer Our Prayers Perfectly

But God may not always give us exactly what we ask for. Why not?

Because what we ask for may not be what is best for us.

What if the son asks for a rock? The father will still give him bread, because that is what is best. What if the son asks for a snake? The father will still give him fish because it is what is best.

Just because we do not always receive what we ask for does not mean that God does not care for us. On the contrary, it is because we do not always know what is best for us.

Our kids might ask for ice cream and cookies for dinner every night, but instead receive spaghetti and meatballs, with a side of vegetables, and water to drink. Its not what they asked for, but it is what they need. As parents who love our children, we will not always give our children what they want. But we do want to give them what they need.

Or when they need a vaccine and they look at us with eyes that plead with us to rescue them, we know that the shot is good for them even if it hurts and they feel like they are being betrayed.

In the same way, God is a Father who always gives us what is best, even if it does not seem good at the moment.

And if God is working for our righteousness, it might mean that we will receive things that seem hard and terrible, but in the end is for our good.

Joseph - being sold into slavery, being falsely accused and thrown into prison, and being forgotten.

This is why we are told in James 1:2-3

James 1:2–3 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And why Jesus told us Matthew 5:10-12

Matthew 5:10–12 ESV

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.