Matthew 7:7-12
Notes
Transcript
If you have your Bibles go ahead and flip on over to Matthew 7:7-12. Today we are going to be looking at the end of the main body of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The next few weeks we’ll look at how he wraps up the sermon and calls both his disciples and the crowds to follow him.
Before we jump into it, I just want to express my gratitude for Ricky Garzon coming over last week and preaching for us. It was good for me to have a week off and also good for my heart to just sit and listen to someone else preach. I hope you guys enjoyed him as much as I did. However, I’m really glad to be back today and looking forward to the next few weeks as we wrap up our Kingdom People series.
Let’s read our passage for today and then jump into it. Matthew 7:7-12
“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!
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
This is the Word of the Lord. Let’s pray.
How many people have heard the phrase, “Work smarter not harder”? I remember the first time I heard it I was in NC and working for a welder. We were moving some stuff around and I had been busting my back to move it. I could tell at the rate I was going that there was no way I was going to get the job done. So I went over and I asked my boss for some help or if he had another idea of what to do. He walked over and showed me like this real simple step that allowed me to move more metal at a faster rate with a lot less work than I had been doing. All the sudden because I sought help I was able to do what I was supposed to do in a much better way.
Now we can come to this passage and start to get all giddy thinking that ok, if I just do all the stuff Jesus has asked me to do in this sermon, then I can ask for whatever I want and I’ll get it! But that perspective and interpretation of this passage isn’t just wrong, it’s idolatrous. What Jesus is teaching this new group of disciples and what he’s beginning to teach the surrounding crowd is that Kingdom People are able to treat others as they wish to be treated when they a.s.k. their heavenly Father.
Now you’ll notice that I’ve made the word ask an acronym and that’s because in the first verse what does Jesus say to do? Ask, seek, knock. Isn’t it convenient that the first letter of each word makes a nice acronym for us? So when I say a.s.k. today know that by that I don’t just mean ask, but I mean ask, seek, knock. Call me lazy. Maybe I’m just working smarter, not harder.
There’s 3 points that come from this passage for us. The first is this:
Kingdom People are known for a.s.k.ing.
Kingdom People are known for a.s.k.ing.
When Jesus says in verses 7-8 to ask and it will be given; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” what is he getting at? What does Jesus mean when he says to ask?
I think there’s two things worth noting. First, is that what Jesus is directly talking about is prayer. When it comes to asking, seeking, and knocking the way that we do that with our Heavenly Father is through prayer.
The second thing is that to ask, seek, and knock, isn’t just something that we do once, but it’s a continual action. The HCSB version I think is probably a closer translation when it says, “keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking.” It’s something you do now and something you do always.
So if our prayers are something that are to be continual the next question for this is why do we need to continually ask?
There’s this particular adult cartoon that I’ve actually never watched an episode of; I’ve just seen commercials of it. And in one commercial the I guess baby is seen standing at the foot of the parents bed just going, “mom, mom, mama, mama, mom, mommy, mom, mama, mom” incessantly. Finally after you’re annoyed enough the mom rolls over and goes, “What!?” and the baby goes “hi.”
All this baby wanted was attention because it didn’t have it. We ask because we don’t have. At the end of this sermon Jesus recognizes that we are lacking. So he tells us to ask. The same thing goes for seeking and knocking. Why do you seek for something? Because either it or you are lost. Why do you knock? Because you’re on the outside and you want on the inside.
What then are we lacking? What do we need to ask for or seek after or what door do we knock on? Well we know it’s not materialistic things. What did Jesus say back in Mt. 6:31-32
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
Gentiles are concerned about what they wear or eat or drink. That’s not what Kingdom People do. So when Jesus tells us to ask, he isn’t saying here that we’re supposed to pray that we’ll have a bumper crop or that we’re to pray that we’ll be able to retire early or have that nice vacation. Those materialistic things are what the Gentiles, the pagans, seek after. Jesus’ brother James confirms this in James 4:2-3
You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
When we view this passage as a green light to ask for whatever we want what we’re really doing is asking God to satisfy our passions. When we ask that of God, do you know what we’re telling him? We’re saying God, give me this because you aren’t enough. Jesus here isn’t telling us to persistently pursue our materialistic desires. What then is he saying we’re supposed to a.s.k. for?
There’s two things he’s telling us to continue asking, seeking, and knocking for. Last week Ricky preached about judging. In Mt. 7:2 Jesus says,
For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
The problem with us acting as the ultimate judge for others is that at the end of the day we’re going to end up falling short of our own standard that we expect others to meet. And if we fall short of our own standard, how much more do we fall short of God’s standard. If we fall short of God’s standard, what hope is there? This is what we ask for. We ask for God to save us.
Kingdom People recognize that they don’t have what it takes to measure up to God’s expectations, so they need someone to help. But the problem with our shortcomings isn’t just that they don’t measure up, our real brokenness is seen in that we actually reject God’s word & God’s way. We don’t need to just be saved from our inability, we need to be saved from God’s wrath.
Jesus sees us in our need and what does he tell us to do? Just ask! Ask and salvation will be given to you! Seek and you will find your hope! Knock and the door will be open!
Now, if you realize that you’re not good enough and actually against God, how do you think that’ll shape the way that you ask? How will you come to God? Jesus points us back to his intro to the sermon on the mount. Mt. 5:3
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
What did he promise you back at the beginning when you ask him recognizing who you are? The kingdom! What does he promise to do when you’re heart is broken and you mourn who you are and what you’ve done? He’ll comfort you! Just ask! Just seek! Just knock!
Jesus’ instructions here are first evangelistic. It’s almost like he’s taken his eyes off of his disciples that he’s teaching and started to address the crowd that has gathered behind him. But this doesn’t just apply to those outside of the Kingdom, it applies to those who are already kingdom people. Who have already recognized their need for a savior.
Remember, this is the last point Jesus makes as the main body of his sermon. From here on out it’s the conclusion. So as a last point it calls us to look backwards to the things we’ve covered. Flip back in your Bibles with me and look at what we’ve covered so far. We talked about anger several months ago. Jesus says to allow anger to exist in our heart and to drive our actions carries with it the same motive as murder. But Jesus doesn’t just say, don’t be angry, he says don’t be angry and go be reconciled! Don’t even come to worship till you’ve made it right.
So let me ask you, how are you doing on that one? Over the past however many weeks it’s been since we covered that passage have you allowed anger to sit in your heart? How many of you have actually taken steps to be reconciled? If you haven’t, why not? Is it because you don’t want to? Is it because you’re afraid? Is it because it’s uncomfortable?
What about purity? Have you been so fully satisfied with Jesus that the desires of the flesh are inconsequential?
What about remaining faithful to your spouse? Are you read to just seek divorce because things have gotten hard and it seems like there’s an easier way out?
Keeping your word? Not retaliating against your enemies, but instead being generous? Loving your enemies? Living perfectly?
What about your generosity or your prayer life? What about fasting? First Tuesday of the month is coming up this week and the doors will be open from 12-1 for us to fast and pray together. You planning on coming? What about what you treasure or your anxiety or your perspective and treatment of others? Jesus knows this mountain seems impossible to climb so he tells you to ask! Ask for his help. Seek his kingdoms reign in your life. Knock on his door and he will answer. You don’t just do it once. These are things that plague us every day. You have to consistently and persistently seek his help in order to live as he’s called you to live!
Kingdom People are known for asking for help because they know in and of themselves they’re incapable of living the life the God has saved them to live. So let me ask you a couple questions about this. When you look at your prayer life what are you known for asking for? Are you begging God to satisfy your materialistic desires? Or are you asking him to save you and then sanctify you to be more like him? Are you asking him to help you live out and embody the characteristics found in the beatitudes and the rest of the sermon on the mount or are you asking him to satisfy your wants and needs and desires with things of the world? “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly.” But when you ask for him to help you live according to his calling the answer is yes. What are you asking for?
Kingdom people are known for asking.
The second observation from this passage is this:
Kingdom People ask trusting their Father to give them good gifts.
Kingdom People ask trusting their Father to give them good gifts.
Now that’s a long point, so I’ll repeat it to give you enough time to write it down. Jesus, as he does so often, gives us a teaching and then illustrates it. Let’s look back at Mt. 7:9-11
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!
How many people in here think they’re good gift givers? Ok my birthday is October 20th. I’m kidding! Kind of. When it comes to gift giving many people in this room do a great job at it. However, even in our gift giving our limitations are seen. I’ve been trying to think of a good illustration to use about giving what seemed like a good gift, but it ended up going terribly wrong. I’m positive there’s lots of stories like that.
What comes to mind as an illustration is giving a kid a phone. Something that’s supposed to help you be connected to your kid and you take all the precautions, but at the end of the day that device takes your kid down a rabbit trail that destroys them. We give what we think are good gifts in faith that it won’t end up destroying someone, but we never really know, right? You don’t know how that gift you give will be treated or perceived. Even in our gift giving our limitations are seen.
Yet Jesus doesn’t say we’re limited gift givers; he says we’re evil gift givers. We just saw that we ask because we don’t have, we seek because something is lost, and we knock because we’re on the outside. But now Jesus doesn’t just say you’re lacking, he’s saying what I’ve called you to do and who I’ve called you to be is contrary to your very nature. Your nature is evil and against me. It’s seen in our limitations in our “good” gift giving.
But God is not like that, is he? Just from this passage we can see that he is perfectly good and extravagantly generous. I hear all the time, “He’s a good guy” or, “he’s got a good heart.” Our understanding of good is encapsulated by the limits of our experience and usually our definition of good is in contrast to what is bad. And when we think of bad it’s not usually us that we’re talking about, but who is Jesus comparing and contrasting his goodness to? To us! Our best gift giving looks evil in comparison to his goodness. Can you fathom the perfect goodness of God?
When he gives good gifts he gives them knowing exactly what is best for us and exactly what will come of his gift that he’s given. But it’s not that he gives to us, “how much more” is what Jesus says. His giving goes above and beyond what we could ask or imagine.
Now I want to make a quick side-note and think about how this shapes your perspective on the things you have in your life. If you view everything you has as not your own, but instead something that God has entrusted to you; if you view it as a gift from him then imagine what this does. To the really good things you have in your life, this leads you to have a heart of gratitude. You view these good gifts as something that you cherish, but don’t grab ahold of in such a way that it dominates you. Instead you look at this gift with an eye toward your father.
It makes me think of a gift you give your children. There’s those kids who say thanks and then run off to play with their toy. Their grateful for it, don’t get me wrong, but if their sibling gets ahold of it, or if it breaks, what happens to them? They’re crushed. Really, it’s the gift their glad to have, not the gift giver. Greed is what drives them.
Then there’s those kids who are grateful for their toy, but they want to play with it in the presence of the gift giver. They keep and play with their toy with an eye toward the giver seeking to please and honor him! They’re grateful for the gift because the gift really tells them about and reminds them of the gift-giver.
But this doesn’t just shape our perspective on good gifts, it also shapes our perspective on our suffering. Instead of seeing our suffering as something that is oppressive to us, rather we look to the Father who’s sovereign over all things and we can trust that he’s given us this thing that doesn’t seem like a gift, but really can be, for our good! Now we can walk through suffering with an eye toward him and trusting that no matter how hard or how dark or how bleak things may seem, he is working all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.
Now I called this a side-note, because the question of this passage is what is the good gift that the Father gives that Jesus is speaking of here? The answer to that actually lies in the book of Luke. So keep your finger here in Matthew, but flip over to Luke 11. Now Luke doesn’t have it laid out like Matthew does in the Sermon on the Mount. This does follow Jesus’ teaching the Lord’s Prayer, but immediately following that Jesus tells this parable about a friend who goes and knocks on the neighbors door at midnight for 3 loaves of bread. The friend is willing to give 3 loaves of bread away not because he’s a good friend, but because of the incessant knocking in the middle of the night! That’s what ask, seek, knock continually looks like.
Then in Luke’s recording we get to the answer of our question. What is the good gift Jesus speaks of. Let’s pick up in Luke 11:11-13
What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Give what? The Holy Spirit! The good gift that Jesus gives when you ask, seek, and knock because you realize that you’re not just lacking, but that your nature is sinful and broken is the Holy Spirit! God’s giving to you then isn’t just to make you a better a person, it’s to make a whole new you. It’s to take that brokenness and the evil nature and to transform it into a new nature. Now it’s no longer a heart of stone, but a heart of flesh! What Jesus is teaching here, what he’s promising is the fulfilment of Ezekiel 36:26-27
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
So what is the answer to our asking then when it lines up with who he’s called us to be? It’s yes! When you ask God to save you, the answer is yes. When you ask God to help you with anger and to seek reconciliation, it’s yes. When you ask him to help you remain pure and faithful and honest and not retaliate, but be generous, and to love your enemies and to give and pray and fast and to help you store up treasures in heaven and to not be anxious and to not judge others, the answer to all of that is yes because those things are who he is!
You see when you ask, seek, and knock what you’re really doing is you’re saying to God is Lord, may the Holy Spirit which you have given to me, which you have placed inside of me, may He be who satisfies me and controls me. Help me to walk by your Spirit, so that I don’t gratify the desires of my flesh. When that’s your prayer; when that’s what you’re pursuing then you can trust that your good Father will give you the good gift of making you to be more like him. Kingdom People ask trusting their Father to give them good gifts.
That brings us to our third and final point:
Kingdom People are _____ to treat others as they wish to be treated.
Kingdom People are _____ to treat others as they wish to be treated.
Now I left that blank there because I think there’s three words that can fill it all flowing out of verse 12. Look back there real quickly. Matthew 7:12
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
The oh so famous “Golden Rule.” You don’t need any religious affiliation to have heard of this. In fact, there’s similar statements in many of the other religions that exist, however, what Jesus says here is unique. There’s this famous story of a Rabbi who I think was current to Jesus’ time and he was asked by a student, “Teacher, teach me all the Law and Prophets.” Rabbi Hillel responded, “I can teach you all the law and prophets while you stand on one leg. Don’t do to others what you don’t want done to yourself. Everything else is commentary. Go and learn” This common saying even back in Jesus’ day was actually focused on the negative. Don’t do what you don’t want done to you. So if I don’t want you to punch me in the face then I shouldn’t punch you in the face. Simple enough.
But Jesus doesn’t leave it there, he actually goes from the negative to the positive. This isn’t just don’t do, its go do what you wish what others would do. Do you see the difference?
Now, we’ve just spent the last 30 minutes looking at the previous verses in which I hope you’ve seen that in and of ourselves we’re incapable of doing unto others and we wish they would do to us. In other words, we’re incapable on our own of fulfilling the instruction of the Sermon on the Mount. But, when we ask then God in his mercy through the power of the Holy Spirit does three things to help us treat others as they wish to be treated. First, he frees us. The first word in that blank is free.
When we recognize that there’s nothing on this earth that can satisfy us and we come to Jesus hungering and thirsting for his righteousness we’ll find that we’re satisfied. When our hearts are satisfied in Christ because we have all of the approval, comfort, and provision that we need in him, we’re free! We don’t look to others for approval. We don’t find our comfort in the things of this world or the gratification of the flesh. We aren’t anxiously trying to control the outcome of everything because our trust is in the one who does control the outcome of all things. When Jesus is that for you, you’re free to treat others as they wish to be treated.
Second, we’re empowered. In Ephesians 1:13 Paul says that when we believed in Jesus we were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Now the same power that conquered the grave lives in us. This means that not only are we able to do the things Jesus calls us to do, they actually become part of our nature. When Jesus is enough and we ask him to help and live by the power of the Spirit when someone does something to wrong us our knee jerk isn’t to be angry and retaliate, instead its to be reconciled. Instead of allowing the lust of the flesh to control us we find what we need in the Spirit. We’re not anxious when life doesn’t go as expected, instead we have faith and contentment in the one who isn’t surprised. I won’t go back through the sermon on the mount because I think you get the point. You have the Holy Spirit in you who brings new life and empowers you to live according to the new nature that has been given to you. Because of this, Kingdom People are empowered to treat others as they wish to be treated.
Third, we’re expected to live according to our new nature. Now I don’t want to get too far ahead into where we’re heading, but if you have the Spirit of God in you and and the Word of God with you and People of God around you, then you have what you need to live as God has created you and called you to live. Now, because you have asked him and sought him and knocked on the door and found that as you do these things you find him, you’re able to live out this greater righteousness that we saw back in 5:20. When we’re free to love God and empowered to love others then don’t you see, you’ve actually fulfilled what Jesus later says in Matthew 22 are the two greatest commandments To love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself. You fulfill the law and the prophets, but it’s not you doing it, it’s Christ in you! It’s the Spirit of God working out his own character in you! You’re just asking, seeking, and knocking.
When Christ has set you free and has empowered you with his Holy Spirit you are expected to treat others as they wish to be treated. On your own, it’s impossible, but by the power of the Holy Spirit it’s inevitable.
Kingdom People are known for asking. Kingdom People ask trusting their Father to give them good gifts, and Kingdom People are free, empowered, and expected to treat others as they wish to be treated. If all this is true, then I think Martyn Lloyd-Jones asks some really good questions of us. He says if all of this is true, “Why are we all what we are in view of such promises? Why is the quality of our Christian living so poor? We are left entirely without excuse. Everything we need is available; why then are we what we are? Why are we not exemplifying this Sermon on the Mount more perfectly? Why are we not conforming more and more to the pattern of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself? All that we need is offered us; it is all promised us here in this comprehensive promise. Why are we not availing ourselves of it as we should?” Church I wonder if the answer to his questions and maybe your question is simply that you haven’t asked. Remember, it’s not a one and done thing, it’s a persistent, continual pursuit for all of your life.
Maybe you’re not quite sure what to ask for. The beatitudes and the call of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is a great place to start. But I actually think there’s a couple other really practical things for us as a church to join together in praying for. In two weeks we kick off VBS. This is the greatest outreach that we do in our community. What if we as a church began to ask (ask, seek, knock) on God’s door and ask him to do something beyond all we could ask or imagine. In order to help do this Ms. Paula had a brilliant idea. If you haven’t gotten it already, on the back table is the breakdown of each day what our teachers will be teaching and the kids will be learning. I want to challenge you to grab a copy and commit to praying for it everyday for the next couple weeks. Just fyi, I’ll send out a daily text during the week of VBS to remind you.
Second, Tuesday is the first Tuesday of the month. We’re going to open the doors and pray and fast together as a church. I want to invite you to come be a part of that as we seek God’s face to be molded and shaped into who he would have us to be.
Those are both forward looking, but for us right now we’re going to transition into a time of the Lord’s Supper. This gift that the Lord has given us helps us do quite a few things. Today I think it helps remind us that Christ came and died for us. He was crushed for our sin so that we didn’t have to be. His blood was shed so that we could enter into a new covenant. I want to go ahead and invite the music team and the deacons on up. As they make their way up here you now have time to sit with just you and the Lord and ask for his help.
