20.4.26a - Matthew 7:7-14 - Finding Life

Many people are considering the purpose of life right now and trying to determine the best course of action for the future. Pandemics and major calamities make us think more deeply about our lives and what is essential. They provide us with an opportunity to consider the choices we have made and the path we are on. As we study Matthew 7 together today, we are going to see everything we have studied so far come together amazingly. The text we are studying this morning ties everything we have studied together and helps us find the way into a relationship with God. It also helps us understand how we can share this good news with others.

Jesus has explained to us what the people who are in a relationship with God look like. They are humble, and they shine as lights for the world because they are hungry and thirsty for righteousness. We have learned what they do, but we have not learned how they get in.

Ask, Seek, Knock

Matthew 7:7--11 (ESV) --- 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 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!

Jesus says, "Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find, knock and it will be opened for you. Is Jesus just giving us a blanket promise that we can ask God for anything we want, and he will give it to us? We know that can't be true. That doesn't make sense because that is not the experience any of us have had in our prayers. If you have had that experience, I want to ask you to pray for a few things for me.

What is he talking about in this context? Verse 6 has just discussed receiving something holy and receiving a pearl. Could that be what he is talking about? I think it is, but that doesn't give enough description for us to know what it is all about. We have to understand the context of the whole sermon. Back in Chapter 5, Jesus said that those who are humble would be blessed. He is talking about the blessing of Abraham, which is eternal life and a relationship with God. The word that reveals these gifts is holy, and these gifts are the pearl, as he speaks about in the parable of the pearl (Matthew 13:45-46).

So notice a few things that Jesus says about receiving this blessing.

It is open. If we ask, it will be given to us, If we seek for it, we will find it, and if we knock, the door will be opened for us. What a fantastic testament to the openness of God! He is willing to accept all of those who are searching.There is a progression in the pursuit. Some will only ask, others will have to seek, and still, others will have to knock on the door. This indicates a different level of access. God is willing to listen to the request of those who are close to the kingdom. He is also ready to open the door to the one who is currently shut out of the kingdom. Those who are humble and striving for righteousness already only need to ask. While those who are hard-hearted and have been living rebelliously, sinful lives will have to knock, but all will be allowed in!God is like a Father. This image has been seen previously in the teaching on prayer, but now we see it more fully explained. What a blessing it is to see God as a Father rather than as a harsh judge or dictator. God is full of love and compassion, just as an earthly father should be. He wants to give good things to all of those who ask him. This reminds me of the father in the prodigal son story of Luke 15.

Love Others

The next section uses this idea of God as our loving father to make a critical summary statement.

Matthew 7:12 (ESV) --- 12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

If God is willing to show this kind of love, we must do the same. This is a restatement of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:48. We must be perfect as God is perfect. He wants us to love our neighbors and do good to them. Is this not the basis for much of what Jesus has said in this sermon? His commands to stop being angry, lusting, lying, retaliating, being self-focused, or being hypercritical have all tried to get us to love others and do good to them.

He says that this is the Law and the Prophets. Remember back in Chapter 5, where he mentioned the Law and the Prophets to say that he is not abolishing the Law and the Prophets, but fulfilling them. He wants us to do the same through sacrificial service. As God shows undeserved love toward us, he wants us to show that love toward others.

The Narrow Gate

The third section we are going to look at is probably the most misunderstood. It shocks me to say that, considering how misunderstood Ask, Seek, Knock is, but it's true.

Matthew 7:13--14 (ESV) --- 13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

In this section, Jesus clearly describes two different gates and two different ways of living. What is he talking about? Most would assume that the broad entrance is for those who are not good people. But notice the word "broad." Doesn't that indicate a gate that everyone tends to go toward? Most people assume that they are walking through the narrow gate because they are good people. Who doesn't consider themselves a "good person?" Have we forced the narrow gate to be broad, or are we missing something here? As much as I want to believe that the narrow gate is much broader than it used to be, Jesus has convinced me otherwise.

Think for a moment about all that we have learned in this sermon. Think about the teachings of Jesus, which compare two different ways of life. He said, "You have heard it said, 'You shall not murder,' but I tell you, 'Everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.'" Remember him comparing the law with the real intention of the law? Instead of being focused on adultery, Jesus cares about lust in our hearts. Instead of being focused on taking oaths, Jesus cares about dishonesty. Instead of caring about retaliation, Jesus cares about compassion and forgiveness. We see two totally different ways of life, but from the outside, we would say the person who does not murder, commit adultery, or break an oath is a good person. Consider how many people do a lot of religious posturing to be considered righteous while having evil hearts. This is what Jesus spent most of his sermon warning against. Now he describes it as entering through the broad gate.

Jesus says that the gate into the kingdom is narrow. That indicates it is hard to find, and he says at the end of verse 14 that many will not find it. Do we see how difficult it has been for us to find it? We had to slow down and consider the intimate details of what Jesus has been saying throughout this sermon.

He also says that the way is hard. Don't we see how hard it is? As we have studied this sermon, how many of us have felt challenged by Jesus' words? Don't we just want to forget that he expects us to be honest all the time? We have temptations in this life to be judgmental, to be angry, to retaliate, or to lust. How easy would it be for us to forget that those things are wrong and go on living for those passions and desires? He is looking for tender hearts that are willing to pursue God's righteousness over the things of this world and grow to be like Jesus.

Allowing sin to continue with a seared conscience is wandering away from the narrow gate. We must let the truth cut us and be changed by it.

How Can We Enter?

Jesus is encouraging us to enter in through this gate. It is not narrow because he made it small. It is narrow because we are blinding ourselves to it. We don't want to see it. We want to believe that we are in it. But Jesus said that few find it. How can we be sure?

First, let me encourage you by pointing out that we can enter this gate. The path after we enter the narrow gate is hard. Choosing to enter that gate while knowing all that we have to give up is hard, but the gate being narrow doesn't necessarily mean that it is hard to enter through. Do we remember verses 7-11? We can ask, seek, and knock, and the door will be opened. If we understand what Jesus is saying, the door is ready to be opened for us. We all have access to this harder way of life. Why would we choose it? Because it is the only way to eternal treasure and all of the blessings that God promises. It is worthy of sacrificing our other pursuits because God wants to bless us with every good thing. He is waiting for us to come in so that he can bless us. To be sure that we are entering into the kingdom and receiving the blessings, we have to do three things.

Drop our pride and self-reliance to enter. We are not going to enter the kingdom because we are so great. Verses 7-11 could be taken that way. We could think that asking, seeking, and knocking is equivalent to doing everything God wants us to do. When we do all the right things, God will open the door. Again, we are making God into something we can use to get what we want. But what God wants is for us to be poor in spirit and give up on our self-righteousness. We are pursuing God's blessing and asking for him to do what we cannot do on our own. We are not good enough to deserve this or to earn this, but he is so gracious and loving to give it to us if we put that pride away and humbly approach his throne.Enter God's gate in God's way. As I say, “We don’t have to do everything God wants us to do to enter into the kingdom,” I cringe to think that it could be taken the wrong way. We don’t get in because we follow all the right steps, we get in because we have the right heart. But the right heart does follow all the right steps. As we study our Bibles, we find that thousands entered the narrow gate by humbling themselves to follow the teachings of Christ's apostles. By the authority Jesus gave them, they commanded all who were "cut to the heart" to repent of their sins and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:38). All who did this would receive the blessing promised to Abraham and walk in a relationship with God.Let go of our passions. Entering the gate is easy once we find it, but walking the path of righteousness is hard. We cannot pretend that following Christ will be easy. It most certainly will not be easy. We will continuously be working to get rid of our own sins and passions. We will not become fully like Christ until the day God transforms our lowly body into the likeness of his glorious body. So that means a hard life. We are in a constant battle against temptations. We can’t be involved in sexual immorality like everyone else. We cannot retaliate like everyone else. When people are unreasonable, we are supposed to show them kindness and love. This is not the easy way to live, but it is the way God lives with us. We will often lose these battles, but God will give us strength (if we rely on him) to get back up and keep fighting. He will give more grace throughout our lives if we remain humble. We are submitting ourselves to a life of studying God's word, letting it do surgery on our hearts, and learning how to love others as God has loved us.

Have you found the narrow gate? Are you willing to walk through it and start a new life of service to him? How can we help you?