Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
The standard message on this passage is, we need to ask, and when we ask God will give us what we ask, we just have to have faith. Although that is certainly part of what Jesus is saying we need to ask, seek and knock, this must also be kept in the context of the Sermon—Jesus just finished saying “seek first the kingdom of God . . .” “Seek” is in the center of the exhortation—what is it we should seek? Jesus is exhorting us NOT to ask for food and clothes and things in this world—He’ll take care of those things. He is teaching us to ask for spiritual things—for those things concerning the Kingdom of God.
As James said
4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
Matthew 7:9 “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
This is instruction by both analogy and contrast. Earthly fathers take care of their kids. Our heavenly Father is better than this. This, again, also points us to the focus which should be there in our asking:
Luke 6 concludes this exhortation to “ask, seek, and knock” with the words “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (v. 11)
Matthew 7:12 So (Therefore) in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
THIS is actually the point of the passage. . . any time there is a therefore you want to see what it is therefore-yet I have often heard this teaching—the Golden Rule—taught in isolation, and have heard the exhortations to Ask, Seek and Knock in isolation from the Golden Rule. They are irrevocably connected. One concept leads to the other—in fact, Jesus is pointing us to the way God treats us not in order to give us an exhortation to ask, but in order to teach us how to treat each other . . .
Theological indicative/moral imperative
T.B. Maston wrote a book “Biblical Ethics” in which he argues the entire Bible promotes a concept of ethics based on relationship—that we are constantly exhorted as members of the community of faith to behave as God behaves, be as God is, and treat each other as God treats us. He calls this the “Theological indicative, moral imperative” structure of biblical ethics—that the Bible gives a description of God followed by an exhortation to human behavior “I, the LORD your God, am holy, therefore, be ye holy”. Here in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus also follows this pattern. If we ask God He responds. Therefore if our neighbor asks of us, we, also, must respond.
The point is NOT that we can ask whatever we want. It is that God treats us this way, and, therefore, we should treat each other this way—to treat them as we wish to be treated (v. 12)
Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
Jesus has already warned about dogs and pigs. Now he warns about wolves.
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
the missing wallet
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
we can see two main points on both sides of this issue that not everyone is going to make it:
1. What you say doesn’t matter. You can say “Lord, Lord”, or “Praise the Lord”, or “Hallelujah!”, or “Hello, Brother” all you like, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to heaven, or pleasing God.
2. Miracles don’t matter. You can actually be a miracle worker, and a prophet. Yes. You can be a prophet and not get to heaven!
And the correlates are these:
1. What does matter is God’s will. My pastor loves to quote the old prose “only one life, ‘twill soon be passed. Only what’s done for Christ will last”. . . I appreciate this, and the sentiment of it, yet I think it is slightly off. It should not say “Only what’s done FOR Christ will last” it should say “Only what’s done IN Christ will last”. We can do many things for God, but it is only what we do in obedience to Him that matters. It is submission to His will which is essential. Doing good works doesn’t win us any points with God. Many Christians float through their lives without developing that listening ear which enables them to discern God’s will and His direction. Learning to know and obey God’s will is the definition of Christian maturity.
2. Relationship matters. God is much more interested in us entering in to an intimate relationship with us than He is with what we do at any point in time. James said faith without works is dead, and this is, obviously, true. Yet works without relationship with God is like a body without a soul—dead.
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
The Tower of Pisa the Campanile the Bell-Tower (these illustrations can be found elsewhere on sermoncentral.com)
The Storms of Life-When our faith is based on our relationship to God and all we do is in obedience to His teaching, we will weather the storms of life.
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
We are still amazed today.
