Matthew 7:7-11

Last Time

Jesus Talked About How We Are Not to Harshly or Hypocritically Judge Others

But We Should Examine and Correct Ourselves Before Examining and Correcting Others

And Then He Tells Us That We Should Use Wisdom When We Judge

Some People Would Rather Tear Up and Stomp On the Gospel (and You) Than Obey it

He Told Us Not to Give Something So Holy and Precious to Them

Matthew 7:7-11

Did Anyone Here Ever Watch the Show “Family Matters”?

I Never Really Watched the Show, But I May Have Seen the Occasional Episode

There’s One Character in That Show That Even People Who Have Never Seen the Show Know

His Name Was Steve Urkel

He Was the Nerdy Nextdoor Neighbor Who Constantly Pestered the Family of Main Characters

He Was Obsessively in Love With the Family’s Oldest Daughter, Laura

She Had No Interest in Him at All, But He Never Let That Slow Him Down

One Thing He Would Often Tell Her Was, “I’m Wearing You Down, Baby!”

By the Final Season, Laura Finally Begins to Fall For Urkel Too, and They Get Engaged

That is Called Persistence!

I’d Bet We Have Some Couples in Here That Are Together Because of Persistence

Persistence Often Works Out For the Person Being Persistent

But it’s Not So Fun For the Other Person

Norah and I Have Our Own Little Steve Urkel Who Lives With Us

Whenever She Wants Something, She Doesn’t Give Up Easily

And Sometimes She Get’s What She Wants…

Not Because We Think She Needs it…

Or Because We Want to Give it to Her…

But Because She is So Persistent

Jesus Tells a Steve Urkel-ish Story About Persistence in Luke’s Account

Luke 11:5–8 (NASB)

Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;

and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’

“I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

That’s a Funny Story When You Think About it

But Jesus Told it to Teach a Lesson On Persistence

Persistence is a Key Element in What We Are Looking at This Morning

Matthew 7:7 (NASB)

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

“Ask”, “Seek”, and “Knock” Are All in the Present Tense

The NLT Gives the Correct Rendering

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”

Verse 8 Goes Along With Verse 7

Matthew 7:8 (NASB)

For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Now the Question is:

What is Jesus Talking About?

What Are We To Keep Asking For?

And What Will We Keep Receiving?

What Are We to Keep Seeking?

And What Will We Keep Finding?

What Are We to Keep Knocking For?

And What Will Be Opened to Us?

There Are a Lot of Different Opinions and Interpretations of These Verses

I Read Over 13 Different Commentaries…

And Practicly Received Over 13 Different Explanations to What Jesus is Actually Teaching

I Think the Typical Way We Interpret These Verses Has to Do With Persistence and God’s Generosity

That if We are Persistent in Our Prayers to God…

That He Will Be Generous in His Answering Our Prayers

I Believe There is a Lot of Merit to That

Citizens of Jesus’ Kingdom Ought to Be Persistent in Prayer

And We Also Ought to Be Confident in God’s Generous Answering of Our Prayers

But I Also Believe This Explanation is Seriously Shortchanging What Jesus is Saying

When We Pay Attention to the Context…

We Find That Verses 7-12 Are Jesus’ Final Teachings in the Sermon on the Mount

After Verse 12, Jesus Focuses On Telling His Listeners That They Must Make Their Choice…

To Follow His Teachings…or Not…

And He Tells the Consequences of Making Either Choice

Jesus is Almost Finished With His Sermon

So Now, I Believe, He is Wrapping it All Up

The Theme and Connection Behind All the Things He Taught in This Sermon Was:

How Citizens of His Kingdom Are to Live and Behave

Now, at the End of His Sermon, He Says…

Keep On Asking and You Will Keep On Receiving

Keep On Seeking and You Will Keep On Finding

Keep On Knocking and it Will Be Opened to You

“Keep On Asking For What, Jesus?”

Well, Think About it…

What Did He Tell Us to Ask God For in His Sermon?

Jesus Taught Us What to Ask of God in Our Prayers:

For the Father’s Name to Be Hallowed On Earth as it is in Heaven

For His Kingdom/Rule/Reign to Come On Earth as it Has in Heaven

For His Will to Be Done On Earth as it is in Heaven

For Him to Provide For Our Daily Necessities

For Him to Forgive Us of Our Daily Sins

For Him to Help Us in Our Daily Temptations

If We Continually Ask For the Growth of His Kingdom On Earth…

For Him to Providentially Care For Our Needs…

And For His Guidance in Living According to the Standard of His Kingdom…

Then He Will Continually Answer Those Prayers

What Did Jesus Tell Us to Seek in His Sermon?

The Kingdom and His Righteousness

If We Continue Seeking His Kingdom

(To Live According to the Standards of His Kingdom and to Spread His Kingdom Message to the Lost)

Then We Will Continually Find His Kingdom

And if We Continue Seeking a Right Relationship With God…

We Will Continually Find Righteousness Through Him

But What About the Part of Continuing to Knock and it Will Be Opened?

We Haven’t Seen Anything About Knocking in His Sermon

But, Everything Else in Jesus’ Sermon is Dealing With the Kingdom

So, We Can Assume He is Talking About Entrance into His Kingdom

Knocking Could Be Pertaining to Verses 13-14

There Jesus Talks About Entering Through a Narrow Gate

Entering the Narrow Gate = Following the Standard/Teachings of the Kingdom

Those Who are Persitent in Knocking On the Gate to the Kingdom Will Be Allowed Access into it

The Kingdom is Open to Those Who Persistently Knock and Want Entrance into it

Our Persistent Asking, Seeking, and Knocking is Focused On Living in the Kingdom

Jesus’ Whole Sermon Was Teaching Us About the Incredibly High Standard His Citizens Must Follow

That is a Very Discouraging Sermon!

Because I Have Never Been Able to Live Up to These Standards

But, the Good News is:

Jesus Doesn’t Want to End His Sermon On a Discouraging Note

He Ends it By Saying:

“If You Persistently Ask For Help in Living According to the Standards of the Kingdom…”

“The Father Will Generously Help You Do So”

“If You Persistently Seek the Kingdom and to Have a Right Relationship With God…”

“Then That is What You Will Find”

“If You Persistenly Knock With Hope of Entering the Kingdom and Living Your Life For the King…”

“The Father Will Generously Open the Gate For You”

He Welcomes All into His Kingdom Who Wish to Be in it

Jesus Leaves Us, Not With Discouragement and Hopelessness…

But With Encouragement and Hope That if We Keep Asking, Seeking, and Knocking Toward the Kingdom…

That We Will Generously Receive it, Find it, and Have it Opened For Us

Matthew 7:9–10 (NASB)

Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he?

Jesus Continues to Encourage His Listeners

What Father Would Leave His Children Without What They Need to Live and Grow?

More Than That, What Father Would Purposefully Deceive His Children to Harm Them?

What Father Would Say, “I Know What You Need in Order to Live and Grow…”

“But Instead I’m Going to Give You Something That Will Be Useless to Your Survival and Growth…

“Or I Will Give You Something That Will Lead Immediately to Your Distruction”?

The Intended Answer is “No Father Would Ever Do That!”

Matthew 7:11 (NASB)

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

If Evil, Sin-Filled People Like Us Still Know How to Give Our Children What They Need to Live and Grow…

Then Surely We Realize That Our Perfect, Sinless Heavenly Father Knows How to Give Us What We Need to Live and Grow

Here’s What Jesus is Saying:

“The Standards of the Kingdom Are High…”

“But Don’t Be Discouraged!”

Jesus Knew That We Wouldn’t Be Able to Live According to the Standards He Has Shown Us in This Sermon

But That’s No Reason to Be Discouraged or Lose Hope

Just as We Know How to Give Our Children What They Need When They Ask…

Our Heavenly Father Knows How to Give What We Need When We Ask

He is Willing and Able to Generously Give Us What We Need to Live By the Standards of His Kingdom

What is it That God Could Possibly Give Us That Would Cause Us to Live According to the Teachings of the Kingdom?

Matthew’s Account Just Tells Us He Will Give Us What is Good

But Luke’s Account Says Something Very Different

Luke 11:13 (NASB)

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

How Could We Ever Live Up to Such a High and Righteous Standard That God Has Set in His Kingdom?

By the Power of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is a Very Mysterious and Misunderstood Topic

We May Never Know All There is to Know About the Work of the Holy Spirit…

But What We Do Know is This:

God Gave the Church the Holy Spirit to Help Us

Jesus and the Apostles Stated Multiple Times That the Holy Spirit Would Live Within God’s People (Read John 14 & Romans 8)

In the Time of the Apostles, Miraculous Gifts Were Given to Christians Through the Holy Spirit

Paul Tells Us the Reason For the Spirit’s Work Through Those Gifts

Ephesians 4:12–13 (NASB)

for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;

until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

Spiritual Gifts Were Given to the Church to Equip Christians For the Service of the Kingdom

To Build Up the Kingdom

To Bring Unity in Faith and Knowledge of Jesus to the Kingdom

To Cause the Church to Mature to the Measure of the Stature of Jesus

The Gifts of the Spirit Were to Help the Church Live Up to the Standard of the Kingdom!

This Was Not the Only Purpose of the Spirit…

But it Was a Very Important Purpose

And He Still Carries Out That Purpose Today

Not With Miraculous Gifts…

But Through His Indwelling and Guidance of Christians

When We Set Our Minds On Spiritual Things (Asking, Seeking, Knocking Toward the Kingdom)…

The Holy Spirit Produces His Fruit Within Us

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control (Gal. 5:22-23)

This is the Standard of the Kingdom

I Can’t Produce Those Fruit By Myself

Only God’s Spirit Can Produce These Things Within Me

And He Will Do That When I Set My Mind On the Kingdom

When the Kingdom is My Top Priority

If We Are Focused On the Kingdom (Asking, Seeking, Knocking), Then We Are Focused On the Things of the Spirit

And When We Keep Our Minds Focused On the Things of the Spirit…

He Produces Fruit in Our Lives That Make Us Suitable For Kingdom Living

Application

What Jesus Teaches Us From This Text is:

Don’t Be Discouraged When You Aren’t Capable of Living According to the High Standard of the Kingdom

If We Persistently Keep Our Minds Focused On the Kingdom (Ask, Seek, and Knock)

Then God Will Provide Us With What We Need to Live According to the Standard of the Kingdom

Whenever You Start to Feel Like You’ll Never Be Pleasing to God or Good Enough…

And You’ll Never Measure Up to the Standard He Has Set…

Just Remember, He Knows That

And He Isn’t a Father Who Leaves His Children Without Help

He Knows How to Give Us What We Need

He Has Given Us His Holy Spirit to Help Us, Guide Us, and Produce the Fruit We Need to Glorify Him in His Kingdom

Don’t Be Discouraged, Be Encouraged!

Don’t Rely On Yourself to Be Good Enough, Rely On God

Don’t Stop Asking, Seeking, and Knocking (Making the Kingdom Your Top Priority)

When it is, God Will Take Care of the Rest

Romans 8:1–6 (NASB)

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

We Have No Reason to Worry Because in Christ, There is No Condemnation

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

We Have Been Set Free From Sin and Death

For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

Sin No Longer Condemns Us, But Jesus Condemned Sin

so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Because of Jesus, the Righteous Requirement Has Been Fulfilled in Us

There is No Condemnation Because Jesus Has Made Us Righteous

But How Do We Know if We are Those Who Walk According to the Spirit?

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,

Where Your Mind is…

Where Your Priorities Are…

What You Persistently Ask For…

What You Persistently Seek For…

What You Persistently Knock For…

Tells You if Whether You Are Walking in the Spirit or Not

If Your Priority is the Kingdom of Heaven…

Then There is No Condemnation For You

Is Your Priority the Kingdom?