15 Matthew 7:7-12 - The Kingdom Rule Part 2

June 11, 2017

Christopher C. Freeman

Title: The Golden Kingdom Rule Part 2 Text: Matthew 7:7-12 FCF: We often struggle to love others the way God desires us to love others Prop: God the Father is our perfect example of how to treat others, so as we pursue Him we imitate His Love. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Matthew chapter 7. Last time in Matthew, Jesus having demonstrated several points about the Kingdom and its citizens is finishing up his exposition by showing how kingdom citizens treat others. He has been speaking on this almost since the beginning of the sermon and there is no doubt that this topic is a key thread running throughout. Last week we saw specifically how spiritual need is addressed by Kingdom citizens. How they do not stand as judges or spiritual superiors over others, but, having first made sure that they are walking in the Spirit, then, with humility and love the Spirit provides, they go to others to help them succeed spiritually. There is a limit to this. Jesus tells them that to continually offer spiritual counsel to those who hate it is a waste of time. Now turning his attention to the positive, Jesus will give us an example of how to treat people. He uses the greatest of all examples… The Father. I am in verse 7 of chapter 7 and I’ll be reading from the Christian Standard Bible, but follow along in whatever you prefer. Sermon Intro: [Slide 2] Parenting is like the most challenging and rewarding thing I have ever done in my life aside from being a Christ-Follower. Children are truly little imitators of you. As such, every now and again they become little mirrors forcing you to ask that question… do I really look like that? When we correct Waverly, we try to do so in soft tones. So we get really close to her and explain what she did and why it was wrong. Sometimes it is through clenched teeth, but it is soft. When we do this we’ll say things like, you need to stop right… now… you are being mean and Jesus tells us to be kind. Great parenting right? Yeah so every now and then I catch Waverly “correcting” Waylon, or Lottie, or perhaps even her teddy bear with soft tones, pursed lips, and a whisper saying… stop…right…now. It is obvious that she tends to be that bossy single child kinda kid. Just recently it occurred to me how impossible it is to parent a child and NOT teach her to be bossy. I mean how do you issue commands expecting obedience and not expect her to do the same to others? How do you teach a 2 year old hierarchical authority structures? If have suggestions, please talk to me afterward. [Slide 3 (blank)] Today, perhaps instigated by the discussion on offering spiritual counsel to those who don’t want it, Jesus anticipates the question, “Yeah Jesus, but what about us who do want it?” “You’ve been telling us a lot of things Jesus, Hard things. How do we obey? How do we change? How can we be Kingdom Citizens” Then, masterfully, Jesus not only answers the question but uses that answer to illustrate the point that we wasn’t quite done making. Just as any child proves, when we are saturated with an example no matter how flawed or perfect, we tend to imitate that example. Jesus invites all who stood on the plain to pursue God the Father. And God the Father will reward those who diligently seek Him. In this, God the Father is our perfect example of how to treat others. [Slide 4] And that brings us to our take home points for today. Since God the Father is our perfect example of how to treat others by how He treats us, so we must 1.) pursue Him so that we may learn of His love so that we can second, imitate it toward others. Transition: Jesus begins with a confusing segue into this point. It is so confusing that it is very difficult to isolate exactly what Jesus is talking about. It almost seems like Matthew has stripped this point from a later portion of the sermon. However, it is not impossible to collate what Jesus says to what He has been saying. Let me show you. I.) God the Father is our perfect example of how to treat others, so we must diligently seek Him. (7-8) a. [Slide 5] - 7 - Ask and it will be given to you i. Ask – Now the translation I selected for today, is honestly the second best. The first best translation of this text is actually a bible called The Amplified Bible. The Amplified bible serves as both a commentary and translation all rolled up into one. Therefore, it tends to be a little wordy, clunky and difficult to simply read because it is redundant as it defines and redefines itself. I chose not to use it today for the sake of readability. ii. But as the Amplified bible makes plain. This word is not simply ask. To translate it properly and to get the fullest scope of what is being said here, is to say KEEP ON ASKING. iii. Persistent requests are what is necessary to inherit this gift iv. But what is the gift? b. seek and you will find i. Just as ask would be better rendered keep on asking ii. So seek would best be KEEP ON SEEKING iii. If you are persistent in your seeking then you will be guided to it iv. But guided to what? c. knock and the door will be opened to you i. Again, just as ask and seek add the KEEP ON before them ii. So this should be translated KEEP ON KNOCKING iii. If you are persistent in your knocking then the door will be opened so you can enter iv. But the door to what? d. [Slide 6] - 8 - For everyone who asks receives and the one who seeks finds and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened i. Everyone who Keeps on asking, seeking and knocking ii. will receive, find, and go in iii. WHAT WILL THEY RECEIVE? WHAT WILL THEY FIND? WHERE WILL THEY ENTER? iv. Many study bibles and commentators choose to take this section of scripture and apply it to a believer’s prayer life. v. The implication of course would be that when we fervently pray, it avails much – James 5:16 vi. And all that makes sense until you try to figure out how verses 1-6 and verse 12 relate to what He is teaching. It seems a little odd, that a sermon so focused up to this point, would deviate for a few moments to talk about how fervent prayer gets answered. vii. What is far more likely is that Jesus is winding down His sermon on the entrance to the Kingdom. He isn’t quite done talking about how things function in the Kingdom and will make 1 final point on how people treat one another in the Kingdom, which correlates to last week’s sermon. viii. But to illustrate what that looks like, Jesus reveals the perfect example of God the Father. ix. Once again, Matthew and Jesus use passive voice to indicate the subject to be God Himself. x. In this section we see God put on display as the only perfect example of what it means to do to others what you would have them do to you. God is the ultimate giver. xi. But disguised as an example for people to follow in how to treat others, Jesus begins the presentation of the gospel. xii. Jesus reveals what is the proper response from everyone on the plain that day, and subsequently, everyone in this room. xiii. [Slide 7 (blank)] If we want God’s grace… If we want His Kingdom. We diligently ask for it. We passionately seek it. We vigorously knock at its entrance. BEGGING to come in. It is the relentless pursuit of this KING and His KINGDOM. And friend this theme has been brought up repeatedly in this sermon. Did you see it? 1. 5:6 – dying of starvation and dehydration for God’s Righteousness 2. 5:9 – The pursuit of Peace with God for all men 3. 5:16 – The pursuit of obedience to bring Glory to God 4. 5:19 – obedience and teaching others to obey gains entry into God’s Kingdom 5. 5:20 – pursuit of a greater righteousness 6. 5:24 – pursuit of pure relationships with others 7. 5:29-30 – Radical steps to protect against disobedience 8. 5:31-32 – Radical limitations on divorce 9. 5:37 – Radical truth telling 10. 5:41-42 – Radical disregard for personal honor 11. 5:44 – Radical love for your enemy 12. 5:48 – Pursuit of God’s perfection 13. 6:3 – pursuit of God’s reward not men’s 14. 6:6 - pursuit of God’s reward not men’s 15. 6:18 - pursuit of God’s reward not men’s 16. 6:21 – Pursuit of Kingdom treasures over the world’s treasures 17. 6:22 – Pursuit of Kingdom light over the darkness of the world 18. 6:24 – Pursuit of Slavery to the KING over the slavery to anything of this world 19. 6:33 – Pursuit of the Kingdom above even needs 20. 7:5 – Pursuit of obedience for yourself and correcting others with the right motive xiv. Jesus promises here, that everyone… yes everyone, who keeps on asking will receive entry. Everyone who keeps on seeking will find the way in. Everyone who keeps on knocking will walk through the gates one day. 1. People often ask, well what if I am not elect but I really want to get saved. I keep on seeking after God but because I am not elect I won’t get it. 2. Listen this passage is a strong promise that flips that question on end. The elect keep on seeking, the elect keep on asking and the elect keep on knocking. Why? 3. Because they want God – and like Jacob, who wrestled with God, they won’t take no for an answer. 4. And even if He did deny them entrance, they’d be knocking at that door until they couldn’t knock anymore because where else will they go? To whom else will they go to for life? There is none other. 5. So Jesus’ promise is a glorious one. His promise is that for those who don’t stop knocking, they won’t knock in vain. For those who don’t stop seeking, they won’t seek in vain. For those who won’t stop asking, they won’t be asking in vain. 6. But, as is the case with so many blessings, this promise is also a grave warning. xv. It means that entrance to the Kingdom cannot be a 1 time decision. It cannot be a benchmark you write in your bible. It cannot be a prayer to be prayed or a set of beliefs clung to. You can’t check it off your list. You can’t expect it to be good enough to ask one time. To come to the point in your life that you seek Him once. To knock at the door for a day. Why? You haven’t attained the prize. The race has just begun. Your salvation is a process, a life, a pursuit and it doesn’t end when you pray a prayer it starts when you pray a prayer. Because what is the prize? God. God is the prize. xvi. There is a prevailing doctrine, a doctrine of demons called easy believism, and it is sending more and more to hell everyday because they think they are saved because they believe a list of things and they trust Jesus as their ticket to heaven. They go on in their lives and become rapists and murderers, adulterers and legalists, backbiters and gossips, prideful and merciless, materialists and vainglorious, and they think all the while that they are heaven bound when they aren’t. xvii. [Slide 8] To put it as succinctly as I possibly can, Entrance to the Kingdom of God is only guaranteed to those who have an unrelenting desire to pursue the Kingdom’s King! That pursuit starts when the Spirit of God smashes through the glass house you have built and you suddenly realize that you are hopelessly and desperately wicked before a holy God. It is sustained as that same Spirit drives His burning holiness so violently into the core of your being that you have a revolution in your soul and begin to hate sin, the world, and Satan. Simultaneously He gives you His fruit and you begin to love the way of the Lord and relentlessly discipline yourself, in the Spirit’s strength to imitate Him. And your salvation finally ends when Christ strips away your depravity, gives you a new body, and renders you new. xviii. So before we move on to Jesus’ main point… we have to address this. xix. Listen… because this easy believism was so pervasive in our culture for so long… perhaps you are embarrassed to even consider the fact that you were this false teaching’s victim. Perhaps you don’t want to entertain the possibility that the prayer you prayed was not actually your guarantee to secure you forever. Perhaps you don’t want to consider the possibility that your faith was not a faith that saves. Perhaps you don’t want to even think about how your belief is really supposed to be an ongoing relentless dependence on and pursuit of God. But listen to me… You MUST THINK ABOUT THIS. Because if not now, you may not get a another chance. xx. [Slide 9] If you have stopped asking. If you have stopped asking for God’s thoughts. Feelings. Opinions. If you have stopped asking for His help and His correction. If you have stopped depending on Him… what makes you think you will receive a Kingdom that is all about Him? xxi. If you have stopped seeking Him. If you have stopped seeking out how He would have you think, how He would have you feel, and what He would have you be. If you have stopped seeking His ways, His will, His desires… what makes you think He will give you citizenry to a Kingdom where His ways, His will, and His desires are all that matter? xxii. If you have stopped knocking at that door, desperately desiring to be near Him, wanting that plank of wood that keeps you from Him to vanish. If you have stopped wanting to come in to Him and are content to be distant – desiring forgiveness, but not The Forgiver… then what makes you think He will open the door to a Kingdom created and sustained by Him? xxiii. If you don’t want Christ now, why would you want a Kingdom where all there is, is Him? xxiv. [Slide 10] Do you realize how foolish that is? It is like running the iron man triatholon to win a lifetime supply of dog food when you don’t have a dog and are deathly allergic to them. There is no such thing as a Christian that doesn’t pursue Christ. Cause guess what… Christ followers… wait for it… they follow Christ. xxv. [Slide 11 (blank)] Listen we have an amazing promise from Jesus here. He tells us that those who keep mourning now will be comforted. Those who keep seeking His Kingdom will find it. But that promise comes with a horrible warning… xxvi. If Kingdom citizens never stop pursuing His Kingdom… where does that leave you. xxvii. This is why the apostles did not write to churches across the known world telling them to remember the prayer they had prayed when they were 5. They did not tell them that God was going to do all the work for them and that all they had to do was just pray a prayer of faith and they’d go to heaven. No. The apostles told these congregations to examine themselves to be sure that they were actually believers. xxviii. Because grace changes people. You cannot have the grace of God enter your heart and ever be the same. xxix. So before we move on here… I want to give you a chance to examine yourself. xxx. Men… 1. Knowing all the names of every player on every Detroit sports teams, but not knowing the 10 commandments or 12 apostles 2. Knowing exactly how to get into that secret room with all the treasure that is made of programming code but not knowing where to find the words of life 3. And having all the accolades of work and play but not knowing God will lead you to utter ruin. xxxi. Young ladies – you can’t obsess over boys and expect to find a godly man. But if you pursue God first not only will you attract godly men, but you won’t be obsessed over finding one anymore. xxxii. Young men – you will never find a godly woman if you do not pursue God first. Because a godly woman wouldn’t have you. And if you have God… that urge to find a woman will actually lose some of its power. xxxiii. Women… 1. Having healthy and happy children that love you deeply but do not know God 2. Knocking on door after door selling mounds of rejuvenation cream but never sharing the truth with your friends 3. And keeping your house being clean but your heart is far from God, will leave your life a mess. xxxiv. If you are a Kingdom Citizen… then pursuing the King should be our heart’s desire. All else is at best a distraction… and at worst… idolatry. xxxv. So what if I haven’t ever really cared about the Kingdom, or what if it has been a long time since I’ve desired God? Well I think you have to entertain the very real probability that your faith is not alive. xxxvi. And if that is the case… then reject your idolatry. Cry out to God for mercy. Plead with Him to place you in Christ. Then step out in faith and surrender to His will. He will give you the Spirit and the Spirit help you to rid yourself of all the distractions and idols and help you to succeed in imitating God. Transition: Well after that very long first point over 2 verses, it may feel like an unachievable goal to finish through verse 12 with the time we have left. But now Jesus will use this example of the goodness of God , to illustrate how we too should do for others what we would expect them to do for us. He’ll start with a lesser to greater argument. II.) God the Father is our perfect example of how to treat others, so we must put others above ourselves. (9-12) a. [Slide 12] - 9-10 - who among you, if his son asks him for bread will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? i. Jesus gives an example that everyone would agree with. ii. Fathers… even not so great fathers… when their child asks for bread, do they prank them and give them a stone to crack their teeth? iii. Fathers… even not so great fathers… when your child asks for a fish, will you give them a dangerous viper instead? iv. The assumed answer is, of course, absolutely not. v. Remember who Jesus is talking to. He is talking to Jews. Jews who since the beginning were forbidden to sacrifice their children to pagan gods. Jews who have been endowed with a high respect for the life of women and children since the beginning. Jews who have a communal society of legacy and honor. To harm your own child is to harm yourself. vi. It is important that we note that Jesus is talking to religious and even moral people. Because we can’t afford to miss what He says next. b. [Slide 13] - 11 - If you then, who are evil i. Now some who stand against this idea that men are totally depraved have made argument that Jesus’ statements here are in comparison to God. Therefore, like Jesus says later that we must hate our father and mother to follow Him, he is drawing an application of comparison. Compared to God, we are evil. But it does not mean that we are depraved or wicked to the point that there is no good in man. ii. Look at Matthew 5:48. What is God? Perfect. And because He is perfect… what are His expectations for us? Perfection. iii. [Slide 14] I want you to listen very carefully. God is not good because He does a quantifiable number of good things. God is not good because He has never done something bad. [Slide 15] God is good because He is the standard of good. Therefore – if you are not perfect, then you are not good. And if you are not good than you are evil, and there is no good in you. iv. [Slide 16] It is like this. If a teacher stands before the class and says that the next examination will be a pass fail examination. It will consist of 1 question and either you get a 100% or a 0% on the test. And let’s just say that the answer to the question is 42. And you guess 41. Now in reality, you only missed the answer by 1 integer. But what will be your grade? 0 your right. v. The standard for what is good is God. And all that do not meet that standard are evil. And even if there is appearance of “good” actions in that evil being… it is never trustworthy, it is never pure, and it is never good enough. vi. So even if Jesus here IS saying that by comparison to God, you are evil… the meaning is exactly the same. vii. You, who are Jews, who above all else on this planet have received the very words of the only true God, you are evil. And if you are evil… then none are good. And if none are good… then there is no hope in men. viii. But Jesus’ point does not end with the state of their nature. He continues c. [Slide 17] know how to give good gifts to your children i. Even in this evil condition ii. We can produce a good gift for our children. iii. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes. And even wicked people can do good things. But that does not mean there is good in them and it certainly does not mean they are good. iv. If that is true… d. how much more will your Father in heaven i. To what greater degree ii. You see another reason that Jesus cannot be saying that we are morally grey people who are sinners but can also be good people, is that it weakens his argument. He’d be saying that We are good sinners and God is good, rather than we are wicked but God is good. The divide is greater and the implication is greater. iii. This Perfect God… iv. the definition of good e. give good things to those who ask Him i. Give good things ii. to those who keep on asking Him. iii. If you, even in selfishness, have figured out how to sustain your own children with good things… how much more so can God- the definition of good - sustain those who are His. f. [Slide 18] - 12 - Therefore i. The word here indicates that this verse relates in some way back to either the previous few, the previous section or perhaps even the whole sermon. I would argue that Jesus switched to how we relate to men and this world way back in 5:7 and He has not really deviated from that. ii. And this is the reason. This is why Ask Seek Knock has to be talking about Kingdom entry and not just prayer. iii. You see God, being full of love, being perfect and absolutely good. The opposite of evil men. iv. This same God extends this glorious promise that if we keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking that HE WILL ANSWER THE DOOR. He’ll invite you in. He’ll give you a place in His Kingdom. Even though… you are evil. v. This entire sermon has shown us unmistakably that what God is looking for in Kingdom citizens is something that we cannot offer. But He promises that if we keep asking, seeking and knocking – He will answer. And that friend is what we call, grace. vi. That, is the gospel. The gospel used as an illustration for how Kingdom citizens relate to others. vii. Since this is how God operates, and He expects his citizens to be like Him… g. whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them i. When people ask for something from you, and you are able to provide it… give ii. When people seek guidance from you and you are able to guide… help them find the answer iii. When people knock at your door needing a place to sleep and you are able to provide such a place… open the door. iv. If you would want others to give to you in need, to guide you in counsel or open the door for you… do so for them. h. for this is the law and the prophets. i. The entire morally revealed law of God is summarized in this ii. Love others as you already love yourself. iii. Give grace to those who do not deserve it, Because we expect others to give us grace. Transition: [Slide 19 (blank)] So how do we apply all this to our lives today? Conclusion: God is the ultimate example for us. And since Kingdom citizens are those who continue to doggedly pursue Him, completely depending on Him for all things, we depend on Him for how to live. For how to see others around us. And in this we are reminded that He offers us grace even in our state of utter ruin. He offers us love even in our desperation. He becomes the pattern. The template. We are His image bearers and are to look and act like He does. The heart of God is broken over the undeserving. But He draws those undeserving sinners to Himself and they continue to come and to come and to come and He is faithful to give, guide and open up His Kingdom to them. And it is that same heart, that same love, that same grace that we must give to others. It is the entire Old Testament that communicates this concept. And you may say well I thought there was two commands and that this was only the second. What do you think Ask Seek Knock was saying? If we persistently ask, seek and knock trying to get as close to God as we can, don’t you think that is loving God with all you are? The teaching is consistent. As we draw near to God, we can imitate Him in seeing others with the correct perception, and loving them with the correct love. But primary is a pursuit of Him. Without that we could never hope to do for others what we’d have them do for us. This message is so important to us, because we are just not naturally this way. We are evil, and while being evil we stumble upon ways that we can show love to others occasionally. But when our hearts are in a flat out sprint toward God. When all we desire is Him. That will radically change our perception on love. We’ll be able to judge others correctly because we will love them correctly. We’ll show people mercy because we too are objects of mercy. We will consider peace with others part of worship to God. We will not take the easy path of divorce but will fight for our marriages for they are pictures of God’s desired relationship with us. We won’t lust over others objectifying them but seeing the image of God in them. We won’t lie or break our promises because God doesn’t break His. We will love our enemies because God only had enemies to love. We won’t seek the praise of men because it has no value compared to God. We won’t seek wealth or needs because He is all we need. We won’t refuse spiritual or physical aid or offer it improperly because that is not what God gave us. And what would happen if the church was this way in this culture. What if we pursued God above all else? What would happen if we treated everyone as we wished to be treated? What would happen if we were actually a body in which there was never a physical need that was not immediately met? What would happen if we were a body where there was never a sin that was not immediately confronted in love? What would happen if we were a body where we all thought ourselves lower than the other in priority? Where we served one another? We’d never see church as what we can get but what we can give. We’d never see other church members as obstacles but rather opportunities The building in which we meet would be a nice place to see one another but it wouldn’t be the only time or place we saw each other in any given week. And ultimately if that building burnt to the ground the church would go on, unaffected. We would be deathly concerned about a spiritual failure of another, not out of judgment but out of hatred for sin and love for them Father’s would care about the spiritual upbringing of their children Wives would submit to their husbands Husbands would spiritually lead their families There would be no power grabs in the home or the church. We would live with one another in absolute harmony. Compared to our culture…we’d be pretty weird that is for sure. Compared to this self-focused, self-esteem obsessed, individualistic, anti-social, hatemongering society in which we live, we’d stick out like a sore thumb. But Jesus was weird. We’d be like Jesus. We’d be His ambassadors. May our passionate pursuit of God feed our desire to imitate Him in how we love others.