Ask, Seek, and Knock: Praying for Relational Wisdom
Matthew: The King and His Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 34:49
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· 12 viewsYour relationships must avoid the danger of judgmentalism and indiscretion, which is relational generosity that is first received and then shared. So, joyfully ask for relational help, expecting to receive from a Heavenly Father.
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“Judge not, that you be not judged.
For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
“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!
How do we act toward other believers within the community of faith?
You are endangered of being judgmental within our community.
You are endangered of being judgmental within our community.
We have already examined the reality that we are in danger of being judgmental toward others in the community.
We need to be cautious of pronouncing judgment because we are not the judge of another.
We are not the judge and we ourselves need to apply the truth we want to apply to another to ourselves first.
We need the relational generosity that applies the principle to ourselves before we try to root it out in our brother.
We do this by removing the protruding log from our own eye before we go after the speak in a brothers.
How do we act toward unbelievers?
Jesus then turns to address how we think about dealings with those outside of the community.
Do we treat all men in the exact same way?
Is there room for distinction in the way we relate to others?
You are endangered of being undiscerning to outsiders.
You are endangered of being undiscerning to outsiders.
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
You are endangered of being undiscerning to outsiders.
You are endangered of being undiscerning to outsiders.
Jesus picks up on two different animals (dogs and pigs).
They both represent common ways of speaking of “ceremonially unclean” animals (1 Samuel 17:43; Proverbs 26:11; Leviticus 11:7).
These animals are those who are “unclean.”
In most parts of the world, dogs are not sweet creatures.
The same way we would think about dealing with rats or rodents, most of the world thinks about dogs.
Dogs in most parts of the world are considered gross.
They are considered detestable.
Pigs were unclean animals in the Jewish world and seen as unclean, seen in the parable of the Prodigal son (Luke 15:16).
Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.
What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”
Jesus is not pretending like His followers should be foolish.
He is not pretending that we should treat everyone the same.
We don’t just ignore the faults of others and act like we’re all the same.
These two evocative illustrations symbolize people who respond to the priceless message of the gospel with contempt.
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
Your indiscretion ignores the inestimable value of the pearls.
Your indiscretion ignores the inestimable value of the pearls.
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
Your indiscretion ignores the inestimable value of the pearls.
Your indiscretion ignores the inestimable value of the pearls.
I think we too often forget the inexpressible wealth that is found in the treasures God has given us.
He has given us life eternal in His Son.
The precious blood of the Son of God shed for sinners.
All of this and too often we so whimsically dispense the truth of the kingdom without any discernment of the treasure in front of us.
The message of the kingdom of God is described later in Matthew as a pearl buried in a field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
The Christian is the one who has great value in his possession by having “pearls” which are of great value.
Now these pearls could be referring to the gospel in particular but it would make as much sense to label it as truth of the kingdom of Heaven.
Now this is particularly the good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
But this is likely any truth associated with the message of the kingdom.
This picture that Jesus paints is of a man haphazardly handing out “pearls” of great value.
Passing them out to pigs.
But pigs will eat almost anything.
And dogs will even eat their own vomit.
But they won’t eat pearls because they are hard and don’t have taste for them.
Picture him passing out the pearls to these wild pigs and wild pack of dogs and them spitting them out and immediately attacking them.
What is the purpose of this gathering?
Is it to attract unbelievers?
Is it to tickle “the ears” of those who want us to speak on certain topics?
It is for the children of God to feast and treasure the Word of God as they’re transformed into the image of the Son of God.
Too often we treat what we do here on a Sunday morning like it is PRIMARILY FOR unbelievers.
But if we try to make unbelievers live by the ethics of the kingdom without the POWER of the Holy Spirit, we do them a disservice.
Don’t get me wrong.
We want unbelievers to seek out and discover what the truths of Christianity are all about.
BUT that is not primarily what we are doing in a given SUNDAY MORNING.
There has been far more harm done by trying to give to “dogs and pigs” what is holy and precious than we can realize.
Shouldn’t we teach young people about prayer?
Shouldn’t we teach young people about justice and mercy?
ONLY after a person has come to know and love the LORD Jesus through His substitutionary death should we ever try to teach all that Jesus commanded.
Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…
The “teaching” comes after the baptism.
The teaching comes after the identifying with.
The teaching does not come before the baptizing.
Your indiscretion exposes the truth to mockery.
Your indiscretion exposes the truth to mockery.
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
Your indiscretion exposes the truth to mockery.
Your indiscretion exposes the truth to mockery.
Let me give you two examples of this…
Jesus before Pilate…
And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”
And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.”
Jesus before Herod…
And when he learned that he belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.
When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him.
So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer.
Jesus before the Pharisee’s…
Why the difference?
Why does Jesus answer Pilate, but refuses to answer Herod?
Jesus seemed to follow a principle in His earthly ministry that they should go about and enter houses they are received.
And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart.
A person was considered “worthy” if they were found to be a “person of peace” meaning that they were open and receptive to the truth.
As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
The shaking off of dust was a sign of judgment.
When people rejected them and the message of the truth it represented that judgment remained on that house.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
Again the reality that Jesus seems to pick up here is the person that tries to get unbelievers to live like believers.
Christians need to realize that there are some who will plain dislike you at every turn.
Whether it is governments or individual’s, we need to reckon that the enemies of God hate the people of God and His Christ.
Especially the message of the gospel will be despised and abhorred by those who hate God (Psalm 36:1-4).
“So are you saying that we shouldn’t talk to unbelievers about spiritual things?”
“You’re saying we shouldn’t share the gospel with unbelievers!?”
No, that is not at all what Jesus is saying here.
But we need to realize that we shouldn’t just be giving a canned presentation of truth when we talk to people.
We should be discerning enough to notice when people are unwilling to receive the truth.
But often, we just assume they’re unwilling rather than them actually acting like staunch opponents to the truth.
So don’t assume a person is unwilling to speak of the things of God without actually speaking to them about the truth.
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World: An Exposition of Matthew 5–10 The Danger of Being Undiscriminating (Matthew 7:6)
I have gradually come to the place where I refuse to attempt to explain Christianity and introduce Christ to the person who just wants to mock and argue and ridicule. It accomplishes nothing good, and there are so many other opportunities where time and energy can be invested more profitably.
Your indiscretion invites persecution.
Your indiscretion invites persecution.
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
Your indiscretion invites persecution.
Your indiscretion invites persecution.
The Sermon on the Mount: (Matthew 5–7): An Expositional Commentary Preaching the Gospel
“It is often impossible to talk to some people about Jesus Christ. Their insensitiveness, their moral blindness, their intellectual pride, and cynical mockery, the tarnishing film, may make them impervious to words about Christ. But it is always possible to show men Christ; and the weakness of the Church lies not in lack of Christian arguments, but in lack of Christian lives.”
Of the amount of times sharing the gospel on the campus, I would say these interactions are only about 10% or less of the time.
So this verse isn’t the main thrust of the teaching, but it is here because it is a real.
If someone is hostile to the gospel.
Hostile to speak of the things of God.
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World: An Exposition of Matthew 5–10 The Danger of Being Undiscriminating (Matthew 7:6)
Jesus is commanding his disciples not to share the richest parts of spiritual truth with persons who are persistently vicious, irresponsible, and unappreciative. Just as the pearls were unappreciated by the savage animals, but only enraged them and made them dangerous, so also many of the riches of God’s revelation are unappreciated by many people. And, painful as it is to see it, these rich truths may only serve to enrage them.
Your relationships must avoid the danger of judgmentalism and indiscretion, which is relational generosity that is first received and then shared.
Your relationships must avoid the danger of judgmentalism and indiscretion, which is relational generosity that is first received and then shared.
This section has a surprising connection to what comes before it.
Jesus has just warned to treat other believers with generosity in the way we evaluate them by first evaluating ourselves.
Then He cautioned us from simply indiscriminately sharing with even obstinate opponents of the gospel.
A balance between charity and discernment is a razors edge.
We need wisdom and grace to know when we should speak and when we should be silent.
We need wisdom and help to know the difference between the “brother” and “dog-pig.”
How does the Christian know the difference between the two?
Your hope is that God gracious gives what you need.
Your hope is that God gracious gives what you need.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Your hope is that God gracious gives what you need.
Your hope is that God gracious gives what you need.
The three verbs “Ask, seek, and knock” could be rendered,
“Ask and keep on asking…”
“Seek and keep on seeking…”
“Knock and keep on knocking…”
These three verbs do not present a time when the action should cease.
In light of the fact that the Christian needs wisdom in how to relate to others.
Jesus knows this and He encourages those who feel overwhelmed with the reality that if we “Ask and keep on asking, we will receive.”
He gives to those who ask, seek, and knock.
He gives to those who ask, seek, and knock.
“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.
He gives to those who ask, seek, and knock.
He gives to those who ask, seek, and knock.
Jesus again returns to the nature of God’s character when describing a potentially fearful moment.
The way we relate to others is an especially challenging area of life.
Jesus encourages us to PRAY.
Not simply to pray but to increasingly with greater and greater intensity to pray.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
“A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
Then Jesus gives an example to illustrate His point clearly.
The illustration focuses on the character of the ONE we are praying to.
If we think of God as a cold-calculated father that likes to watch his children “squirm”, then we will approach him in that way.
If we think of God as a harsh and demanding father that gets annoyed at all our inconsistencies, then we will approach him that way.
He gives like a Good Heavenly Father.
He gives like a Good Heavenly Father.
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?
He gives like a Good Heavenly Father.
He gives like a Good Heavenly Father.
The example hinges upon the nature of human parents.
Picture a father giving his son dinner.
The table is set and the food is all prepared and the son has expressed his hunger a time or two.
When the son sits down to eat, the burger bun is made of rock that only appears like a bun.
And then when the dad opens the tray, it reveals not the fish dinner that he promised but a disgusting serpent.
Jesus’ point here is that it would be ridiculous to picture a dad only pretending to feed his children.
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!
Human fathers are evil and yet they give good gifts.
Notice that Jesus doesn’t try to communicate that all parents just have some problems.
He just plainly assumes that all parents are evil.
All parents are not just broken.
Not just fallen.
They are evil.
And yet they are able to produce good gifts to their children.
If evil human fathers can give good gifts, how much more good gifts can our GOOD Heavenly Father give?
So, joyfully ask for relational help, expecting to receive from a Heavenly Father.
So, joyfully ask for relational help, expecting to receive from a Heavenly Father.