ASK (Matthew 7:7-11)

Is it snowed in your bulletin? We're going to be in the gospel

of Matthew, The Sermon on the Mount chapter 7 verses 7 to 11

and children. As you hear this listen

carefully to what Jesus is saying, he's making a promise,

it has to do with us asking our heavenly father for things.

This is an amazing passage again, Matthew 7, beginning at

verse 7, through verse 11 ask and it will be given to you seek

and you will find knock and it will be open to you for everyone

who asks receives the one who seeks finds to the one who

knocks it will be opened or which one of you.

If his son asks 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? Father, who is in heaven?

Give good things to those who ask him.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Amen. I'm sure some child about 15 or

20 minutes from now will say to their parents.

Why did we get to here to sermons today?

May feel like that and this very special day.

But children, I want you to really listen to something

because you can help us here the vs.

Are Matthew, 7:7 211. I want you to even maybe think

of a 7-Eleven, as you see them some days maybe when you see

them to remind you of what Jesus is saying here just to think

about it. Jesus tells us to ask to seek to

knock and we're not doing it. If a pastor were to ask me to

describe the spiritual health of our church, there's lots of

things I could say when I'm a guest preacher somewhere.

I often asked that question, what's almost always consistent

is this? The congregation doesn't show.

They really fill their need for Jesus and the way they come for

prayer, the congregation doesn't really show.

They feel their need for Jesus. When it comes to them, coming

for prayer. This is important.

Here's why if you ever want to know how to apply any sermon you

ever hear. If you ever want to know how to

apply any Christian book, you read, if you want to know how to

apply any podcast, Christian podcast, any Christian Bible

study here in if you want to know how to apply it.

It's right here. In these few verses where Jesus

applies very clearly, how his audience, Was to receive what

they just heard. Here's what I mean for less than

15 minutes, Jesus, preached these words.

His sermon, even if you read it slowly, those three chapters

take less than 15 minutes. And then Jesus comes to this

point in his sermon where he says ask, and it will be given

you seek and you will find knock.

And the door will be open to you.

What is he talking about? He is not here.

Teaching name it and claim it. Whatever you want.

Ask for it. If you want a new car, then pray

for it. If you want a job to build

afford a new car, pray. This is not at all with this

section of Matthew. 7 is about, it is about Jesus showing us.

After at this point, he had probably preached about 12 to 13

minutes. It's recorded that everything he

has said up to this point. Everything, not just some

things, everything that he said up to this point, you can't do

it. Neither can I we're not smart

enough, we're not diligent enough, we're not spiritually,

mature enough, there's not one line in the sermon where you

could say. I know some of them are hard but

because of my giftedness because of my mental capacity, because

of my diligence, I can do it. Jesus is closing his sermon.

He's going to follow with a few illustrations, but he's closing

his sermon with its incredible truth.

You can't do it. and one of the reasons pastors like me would

say our congregations, don't feel their need for prayer is

because when we take time and invite people to pray The

attendance is really poor, this isn't by the way to make you

feel shame. This is to open your eyes to the

fact that you might really believe you don't need.

What Jesus is saying, you desperately need you can't do

any part of The Sermon on the Mount apart from Jesus, none of

it, none of it. If you don't believe me, just go

back to it. Go back to the beginning, we

started there. About a year ago.

Can you believe it? We have about five sermons,

maybe six left to Jesus, 15 minutes, taking us over 50 weeks

and we actually could keep going.

But at the end of every sermon, At the end of what you heard

last week. So beautifully.

Preached by Chad, what you'll hear next week and every week,

and every book you read, The application is the same in Jesus

gives it to us. It's very, very simple.

Ask. Ask a SK.

Ask ask it will be given to you seek and you will find knock.

And the door will be open to you.

When we have afternoons, where we invite you to pray or

occasionally will have people in the corners.

Very few people come. There's a reason why there's a

stronghold in our culture that tells you don't look needy, if

you're over there, praying. Somebody might wonder.

Well, what's really wrong with you?

You know what, they might be saying something like this.

I really want to love my enemies.

Pray for me. I really want to be pure in

heart. Pray for me.

I really want to stop lusting. Pray for me.

I really want to know what it means to be generous.

Pray for me, the prayers that we typically bring not minimizing

these at all or four things that we really feel need over

physical health. We should pray.

Relational Health, we should pray.

But friends, what Jesus is saying here?

It's all centered on the spiritual life.

And what he's saying is when you hear what I have preached, when

you hear what I have said, you can't do it.

You can't sew. Ask your father.

Seek your father, knock at the door and it will be given you.

I'm going to give you two points, but before I do, I want

you to hear this. We've made much.

Of what Jesus has made much of. And that is the father.

One of my favorite things that Chad Scruggs said last week was

when he talked about grown-up theology.

You remember what? That was grown up.

Theology is when his children, not just the little ones, but

all of us, Run and Jump into the lap of the father.

That's grown up, theology. But he said grown-ups don't do

that professionals. I remember saying that don't do

that. And I think it's true that we

don't think of God that way. Either friends not as children,

who are desperate for something from their father.

Martyn lloyd-jones, listen to what he says.

If you should ask me to state in one phrase.

Now Martin lloyd-jones is saying this is really significant.

If you should ask me to state in one phrase, what I regard as the

greatest defect in most Christian lives.

Now, let me pause for a minute. If somebody were to ask you

that, what would you put there? What would you say from your own

perspective, even your own life? This is what I think.

The greatest defect is in most Christians lives in my life.

What would you say? I don't think you would say what

he says. Listen if you should ask me to

state in one phrase, what I regard as the greatest defect

and most Christians lives. I would say that it is our

failure to know God as our father as we should know him.

That's amazing. Jesus in this sermon uses the

name, father, over and over and over again.

When he's teaching about this application of a sermon.

He has the father in mind that he's the one that we should ask

seek and knock. So here's what I want you to

take away. We are to ask the father.

With persistence and weird to ask the father with confidence.

Persistence and confidence. And here's why I would say

persistence, unless, you know, Greek or reading a commentary

that speaks to Greek. The grammar here wouldn't mean

much to you, but it actually means everything.

It's written as a present imperative, versus an heiress

imperative in erised imperative means to do something.

Once it would be like me saying to you right now, pick up your

hymnal. Fairest imperative, you pick it

up? Once you you obey what's being

asked When Jesus says, ask seek and knock, it's not an heiress

imperative. It's a present imperative, which

means continually. So, what Jesus is saying, here

is, when you think about all that, you have just heard that.

I've preached, all the Beatitudes, all that he says

about relationships, all that. He says, about hypocrisy, all

that. He says about prayer, what is he

saying? For those things?

Which you In of yourself cannot generate continually ask.

Continually ask continually seek continually seek continually

knock, if that's not what we're doing.

That means we don't truly feel our need of him.

Even if we quote, great books are seeing great hymns.

When we truly feel the need of something, that makes this

desperate. It affects the way.

We pray our spiritual condition because all we've already

proclaimed reveals that We actually can profess that we see

ourselves as sinners in need of a savior.

So continually ask continually seek continually knock, there's

something else here the way in which Jesus uses those three

present imperatives ask seek and knock shows that there is an

ascending intensity. There is an ascending intensity

We Begin by recognizing a need at hope you're recognizing it

even now. And so we ask there's an

ascending intensity that moves towards effort.

Now, many of you heard what Chad said, last week, effort matters,

not in our justification, but certainly in our Progressive,

sanctification, Seeking is looking, it's moving.

It's not just asking. And then, lastly, you have this

idea of perseverance, persistence knocking at the

door, beating down the door. There's something you want so

badly. Jesus, as the Luke records, this

gives us this picture of That intensity that persistence turn

in your Bible very quickly to Luke chapter 11.

Luke 11 · chapter mention

This is where the counterpart is Jesus.

In Luke 11, he records the same statement.

But he says this before it verse 5, 11 5 which of you who has a

friend will go to him, have been diet and say to him friend lend

me, three loaves for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey

and I have nothing to set before him, and he will answer from

within In do not bother me. The door is now shut and my

children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you

anything. I tell you though, he will not

get up and give him anything because he is a friend, his

friend yet because of his perseverance, that's really the

word persistence. He will rise and give him

whatever he needs. And I tell you ask, and it will

be given to you seek, and you will find knock and it will be

open to you. There it is.

I want to do one more picture that Jesus gave us turnover and

Luke a little further to Luke 18.

This is the illustration that also speaks of persistence and

confidence. Jesus told them a parable to the

effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

I want you to think about this for a minute.

Before I read the parable. How many of you know, that on

your smartphone device, whatever you use that there is a history

section. And you can look at that or

somebody else can and tell you everything.

You've searched. I mean, you know that that's a

reality good. I want you to think about your

history. Not so much in terms of where

your eyes have gone on the internet but I want you to think

of your history even today. And yesterday since winter

Grace, what's been the history of what you have asked God for

How many of the things have you been asking God for that are

really related specifically to what he preached in The Sermon

on the Mount. I'm not saying that anything

you've been asking for is wrong. but I think for many of us,

Praying with ascending intensity praying, with this present

imperative that we are not going to the Lord begging him to give

us what he promises to give us. Those are the things of his

righteousness. So, Jesus gives the picture.

It's a parable of a woman, most likely in your Bible.

It says, the parable of the persistent Widow, which I don't

thinks the best title. Those things are not inspired.

Their things above the word that just Just helps us identify them

and I'll tell you why in a minute, but let me read the

parable. It's very short.

He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to

pray and not lose heart. So, what's the point?

We should always be praying and not lose heart.

He then said in a certain city, there was a judge who neither

feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that

City, who kept coming to him and saying give me Justice against

my adversary for a while he refused.

But afterward he said to himself do I neither fear God nor

respect man yet Because this Widow keeps bothering me.

I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her

continual coming. The Lord said, hear what?

The unrighteous judge says. And will not God, give Justice

to his elect who cry to him day and night.

Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give Justice

to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the son of

man comes, will he find faith on Earth?

The imperative here is very clear.

Don't stop asking God. Seeking God knocking on that

door for the things that he himself.

Has said, he will give us that relate to our sanctification are

being made like him. Don't just simply say I have bad

habits on wired this way. This is the way God made me know

friend. If, you know, there's some part

of your heart, your body, your mind, your soul.

That is not living. According to what Christ is

preached, take it to him. Ask seek knock but here's the

Danger of this Parable being titled the persistent Widow.

It's that we think the main point is for us just to be

persistent. That's not the main point.

It's certainly part of it, but there's another subtle thing

that you can't miss. We can't miss this.

We are to be persistent in our prayers, friends.

Don't stop praying, don't lose heart.

Keep asking keep seeking. Keep knocking.

But here's the difference, we are not asking and unjust judge

and we are not widows and orphans.

We have the heavenly father who is good and does good.

Who Jesus tells us Delights to give us good gifts.

In Luke section, he would speak specifically of that being the

Holy Spirit. We don't persist in prayer to a

judge or even a father who's saying just knock long enough

and I'll become fed up, and then I'll give you what you want.

He's not that. And so, we're too persistent

prayer to a father who Delights in giving us good things and

work to persistent prayer. Not as a widow or an orphan, but

in his beloved daughters and sons, who really can?

Like we've been singing run into the arms of the Living.

God, we really can sit in the lap of our heavenly father.

But when you get there, when you are there, what are you asking

him for? Friend.

Go back over The Sermon, on the Mount.

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what is not well in your soul.

What areas of your life are you not living according to what

Christ has said and I said it clearly asked the Holy Spirit,

you can't see it apart from him and when he reveals that

whatever it might be, are those things whatever they might be.

Ask him to change you. Ask him to make you hunger and

thirst for righteousness. Ask him to turn your eyes from

looking at worthless things. Do it with persistence, but also

with confidence. because Jesus says, it will be given you.

You will find. It will be opened for everyone

who asks receives and the one who seeks finds and the one who

knocks it will be opened. What would bless?

This body greatly. is, if we all really believed, what we say we

believe That apart from Jesus we can't do any of this.

But in Christ with confidence we can come asking continually,

seeking continually knocking continually with confidence

believing that he and he alone will give us what we ultimately

need. if you want to pray today, come and see us.

Send an email. Meet Carrie and Eleanor right

here, don't meet you in the corner. those men that we're up

here, standing scatter around If you need prayer friend come and

let me make it easy, you do. Every Sunday.

And at the end of every book, you read, And every Christian

thing you intake, this is the application always.

Ask seek and knock Father in Heaven.

There's so much good news. And I have to be honest, Lord.

This culture is so strong and making us.

Say one thing and seemingly believe it.

But this still live. Is it?

Everything is okay. Father, I pray today that your

grace would truly show itself to be sufficient.

As you say, hear our prayers Lord, whether we pray with

someone or even out loud right now, to you have mercy on us and

give us the ability to believe what you preach Christ, ask and

it will be given seek, and you will find knock.

And the door will be open to you.

We pray this in Jesus name, amen.