Turn with me, if you would, to
Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7. You and I both know that the
Word of God goes out all the time to people who are not interested. Right? It goes out all the time
to those who are not interested. Solomon said, remember now thy
creator in the days of thy youth. Man, I want our children to get
a hold of this. Remember now thy creator in the days of thy
youth, while the evil days come not. What are the evil days? The years when thou shalt say,
I have no pleasure in them. There's going to come a time
when if God doesn't have mercy, we're going to have no pleasure
in it. Preach. Why are you preaching at me?
Preach to somebody else. I don't want to hear it. I'm
not interested. God's word is a message of mercy. It's a message of forgiveness,
it's a message of healing. But our Lord himself said they
that are whole have no need of the physician. They're just not interested.
They're just not interested. And even though God proves in
this word, we search the scripture and he proves Sunday after Wednesday
that every soul that is born into this world is sick with
sin. Doesn't he prove that to us? Every soul is sick with sin,
every soul on this earth stands in need of mercy. mercy and forgiveness from God,
even though the message that determines eternal life or eternal
death. This message determines eternal
life or eternal death, and even though it's plainly declared
in the pages of God's word, most every soul on this earth is not
interested. But I tell you this, some are. Doesn't that deserve thank God?
Some are. Some people know they're sick,
you know, that. Spiritually speaking. Some people
know that they're sick, our Lord said, they that are whole have
no need of the physician, but they that are sick do. They that are sick do. You don't
have to convince a man who is truly sick that he's sick. You don't have to convince a
man of that. You go down to the cancer ward
at the hospital. You don't have to waste your
breath trying to convince anybody that they're sick. Isn't that
right? If a man is truly sick, he can
see it in himself. He can feel it in his body if
he's truly sick. The message that God declares
inside the pages of this book is an announcement of the free
gift. Here's what the message is. We
stand up here and we repeat what God has said. That's what the
declaration of the gospel is. We just repeat what God has said.
And it's an announcement of the free gift of the unsearchable
riches. That are in Christ, and this
is. An amazing thing. To all of our amazement. Most
every soul on this Earth is not interested. It's free. It's unsearchable. It can't be
counted. It's eternal. Most every soul
on this earth is not interested. But the truth is, some are. Some are. Some people know that
they're poor, spiritually speaking. Some people know that they don't
have anything. Some people know, in my hand,
no price I bring. I mean, have you ever been broke?
Has there ever been a time in your life when you were broke?
You know, you're broke. I mean, you're broke. I'm out
of money. I have nothing left. I'm empty. Our Lord said. He stood up in the synagogue
that was in Nazareth and he held his own word. His own word. And He declared that He was going
to open the prison doors and set the captives free. And they
weren't interested. But do you know who would be? You know that some people on
this earth would be very interested in hearing about that. Some people
know that they're bound. Some people do. The goodness
and the kindness of God has declared to us how sinful man can be justly
forgiven. That's what's right in here.
That's what this eternal God has declared to us. How sinful
man can be justly forgiven. How God's anger God is so angry, isn't he? He is so angry with the wicked
every day, isn't he? Isn't he angry? Every soul on this earth is born
into this world in its own flesh, wicked. Every single soul on earth. We
come forth speaking lies. Can any of us convince ourselves,
I've never told a lie? Can any of us convince ourselves,
I've never broken the speed limit? Can any of us convince ourselves,
I've never rebelled against my parents? I've never... God is so angry with the wicked.
Oh, He's so angry. Inside the pages of this book,
though, he has declared how a sinner can be justly forgiven. How God's anger can be satisfied
and how the Lord Jesus Christ can reinstate to a man or a woman
everything he lost. And thank God some are interested.
I'm so glad that he's made me to be interested. So thankful
he put me here. I didn't come here of my own
free will. You know what our Lord said about
my own free will? He said, you will not come to
me. Isn't that what he said? But he put me here. And he caused
me to have a dying interest in this. Some are interested. Our Lord said it's few. He said
right here in Matthew 7 verse 14. He said it's few. Straight
is the gate narrow is the way which leads to life but few not
many. Very few. But some are interested
in this message is for those of us who are. This is for those
of us who know that we are sick, I'm sick with sin. This message is for those of
us who know that we are poor. Spiritually speaking. This message
is for those of us that know we're bound, it's all because
we're sinners, that's who this is for. This message is for those
who are empty, lost, and outcast. That's who this is for. Now,
verse 7 is going to be our text. Matthew 7, verse 7. It says,
Our Lord said, Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall
find. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. Isn't that glorious? Isn't that so sweet? The only
time that a person will truly ask is when he's empty. That's the only time. Man by
nature does not want to ask anything. This flesh is too proud. This
flesh is just too arrogant. It's just too arrogant. This
flesh says, I'm more than happy to tell you a couple things.
If you like to sit and listen, I'll tell you some things. But
I'm not interested in asking. But I'll tell you this, when
God empties a man. And I've seen it. I believe he emptied me. I do. I was so full of myself. I was
so full of myself. And I believe God emptied me,
and I believe He still empties me. And I've seen it in others
too. When God empties a man or a woman,
and if God empties a person, they're empty. Whatever He sets
out to do, it's done. When God empties a man, He'll
start asking. He'll start begging. He will
start begging. He will know. He'll be convinced. I'm empty. I don't have anything. I don't have what I need, that's
for sure. And if God ever gave a man or a woman the ability
to ask of Him one thing, you know if a man is going to ask,
God has to give the ability to ask. If a man is going to believe,
God has to give that faith to believe. If a man is going to
come, God has to draw him. If a man is going to bow, God
has to break him. Right? And if God gave the gift
to a sinner to ask one thing, what should it be? What should
it be? Peter was given that ability.
The Apostle Peter. God put him in a position where
he had just enough time to ask one thing. That's all the time
he had. That's all he could get out of his mouth. One thing.
Turn with me to Matthew 14. Matthew 14 verse 22 says, And
straightway Jesus constrained His disciples to get into a ship,
and to go before Him unto the other side, while He sent the
multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes
away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray. And when the evening
was come, He was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst
of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. And
in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking
on the sea. And when the disciples saw him
walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit. And they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer,
it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said,
Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he
said, Come. And when Peter was come down
out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous,
he was afraid." Can you imagine? This man steps out of the ship
onto solid water. You say, with man, that's impossible.
Yeah, I know. With God, though, all things
are possible. A man, a sinner, can come to Christ if God bids
it. And here he steps out of this
ship and he's taking these steps on the ocean. And as long as
he has his eyes on Christ, the impossible is being accomplished.
As long as he has his eyes on Christ. But when he took his
eyes off of Christ, he started looking at these boisterous waves.
He started seeing how mighty these waves were. He started
seeing how weak and how in trouble he was. And it emptied him. That's what happened. It's amazing
that he had the audacity to ask, Lord, if that's you, would you
let me walk on the water? And he got out there. Can you
believe asking that he got out there and the Lord allowed him
to see what he was. And it emptied him. It emptied
him. And he went down. How long does
it take for a man to go under the water? How long does it take
when you jump in and your toe hits the water? How long does
it take for your head is under the water? He had just enough
time to cry one thing. The end of verse 30 says, And
beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. That's all he had time. Lord,
save me. Verse 31 says, and immediately. Man, don't you love that? He was crying. He was crying, you know how some
people, they love to say this in common conversation, Lord
have mercy. Well, Lord have mercy. He cried, God have mercy. And immediately Jesus stretched
forth his hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of
little faith, why did you doubt? Why did you doubt for every soul
who has been emptied by God? There may only be enough time
for us to ask one thing. Just one thing, but this is the
only thing we need to ask. And I encourage us to ask it.
I encourage this. Don't let it go in one ear and
out the other. Let it go in one ear and stop
at the heart. Let it fall into the heart and
stay there. We need to ask, Lord, save me. Save me. At that moment right
there, Peter's boat didn't matter. Peter owned a boat. He went back
to it later, didn't he? But at that moment right there,
that boat did not matter one bit. All his nets, he didn't
matter. Nothing mattered to him. Lord,
save me. Save me. Save me. I'm the dying sinner in need. Save me. I can't. That's what
he knew. I can't. You must. That's what
he was saying. Lord, save me. Save me. Go with me back to Matthew 7. Matthew seven, verse seven says,
ask and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. The only soul who will truly
seek. We can declare, seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. But the only soul
that will truly seek is the soul that knows he's lost. That's
the only one. or the soul that has lost something. When we sinned against God, we
lost God. That's what we lost. We lost our access to Him. We lost our good standing with
Him. We lost righteousness. We lost
holiness. We lost purity. We lost life. The wages of sin is death. The
scripture says, but turn with me to Leviticus 17. Go back to
Leviticus 17. Leviticus 17 verse 11 says, For
the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to
you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls. For it is the blood that maketh
an atonement for the soul. Our Lord said that spotless blood
will make an atonement for the sinful soul. The soul that has
lost it all. Lost it all. It will be a covering
for that soul. It will be a hiding place for
that soul. That soul will find safety. The God that punishes all sin. He said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. That's what he said. When I see
the blood, I'll pass over you. Where is this blood? Where can I find this blood?
It is in Emmanuel's veins. If we can find him, if we can
get to him, we'll find mercy from God. It's in one place.
If we can get to Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us, we'll
find mercy from God. Look at Jeremiah 29 with me. If we can get to Christ and His
blood, God will spare us. He'll spare us from what we deserve.
Jeremiah 29 verse 12 says, Then shall you call upon Me, and you
shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. And
you shall seek Me and find Me, When you shall search for me
with all your heart. How does a sinner seek God with
all of his heart? How does a sinner seek God with
all of his heart? Didn't our Lord say in Matthew
7? Many are going to say to me, Lord, Lord, We did all these
things. He's going to say, depart from
me. I never knew you. They weren't seeking with all their heart.
How does a man, how does a woman, how does a sinner seek God with
all of his heart? The answer is in Psalm 27. Look
with me at Psalm 27. Psalm 27 verse 8, When thou saidst, when you said,
when God said, seek ye my face, David said, that's when my heart
said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek. When you said, seek
ye my face. That's the moment my heart responded
and said, Thy face will I seek. I don't have you. I don't know
you like I thought I did. I thought I had you in my back
pocket and you don't go searching for something that's in your
back pocket. Somebody's snooping all around. What are you doing?
I'm trying to find this that's in my back pocket. You don't
do that. David said, When you said, Seek
my face. That's the moment I started seeking
with the heart. That's when my heart said, Thy
face will I seek. That's called grace before mercy.
Grace before mercy. If a man seeks God for mercy,
God's grace caused him to seek. If a man ever seeks him for mercy,
God's grace caused it. Now, is anybody here lost? You know what the flesh says,
no. Not me, let me look around and
see if it's anybody else. I'm not lost. Has the Lord in mercy revealed
to any of us. That in our flesh, we have no
hope because we're without God in the world. One man said, and I repeat it,
I repeat it strongly. One man said, I'm not trying
to get anybody saved. Not one person. I'm trying to get somebody
lost. Because Christ Jesus came into
the world not to seek the found. He came to seek and to save the
lost. Does anybody feel like in their
flesh They have lost righteousness. I'm not as holy and pure as I
thought I was. I don't want to go stand before
God based on my good deeds. Do any of us feel that way? Lost righteousness. Do any of
us feel like without Christ, I don't have an atonement? I
don't have a covering? If that's the case, listen to
this. Listen to this. Turn with me to it. Go to Isaiah
55. We just had this read to us. Look with me at Isaiah 55
verse 6. Isaiah 55 verse 6 says, Seek
ye the Lord while he may be found. Who is he talking to? He's talking
to your preacher. He's talking to me. He's talking to you. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call ye upon him." Now here's
the greatest four words we could get a hold of. While he is near. He's near. Wouldn't it be so
terrible to stand up and cry, God is gone. Too late. It's too late. It's too late.
God left. God is near. How near is He? God is here. He's here. Verse 7 says, Let
the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts,
and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him.
And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. He'll abundantly pardon. Seek ye the Lord. How? Ask. Lord, save me. Would you say
to my heart, seek ye my face? Would you say that to me? Because
I won't unless you do. And you're here. Today is the
day. Tomorrow may be too late. Save me. Seek the Lord. Go back with me again to our
text, Matthew 7. Verse 7 says, Ask and it shall
be given you. Seek and you shall find. And
it shall be opened unto you. You know, a person will not knock
until he realizes he's on the outside. He will not knock until he realizes
he's on the outside. Man by nature has no idea that
he is an outcast. He does not realize this. When
Adam sinned against God, God cast him out of the garden. That's
where man stayed. That's where the flesh stayed.
Turn with me to the last book of the Bible, Revelation 22.
Revelation 22. The last chapter of the last
book. Revelation 22, verse 12 says,
and behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me to give
every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are
they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the
tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
For without, without are dogs, and if you run the
references there, there's a reference to Philippians, and then there's
another reference that tells us that that is preachers. false
preachers. Without is every man who stood
up behind a pulpit and told lies on the true and living God. Without
are dogs and sorcerers, those who want to do their own great
things. Those who want to be feared and
reverenced as their own God. Whoremongers, we know what that
is, don't we? Murderers, we know what that is. Our Lord said to
do these things in the heart is to do them in the flesh. To
hate is to murder. Idolaters, any soul that has
worshipped anyone or anything other than the true and living
God. And whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. That covers every
soul on earth. Most every soul on this earth
has no idea that human beings, every human being that's born
into this world is without. Without the blessing, without
the acceptance of God. But every soul that's without
the blood of Christ is going to realize that very quickly. They don't know it now, but they're
going to very soon, after it's too late. It's going to be after
it's too late. You think about how many people
started beating on the door of the Ark. They started knocking. The water started puddling. This
water's starting to rise. This water's coming up. It's too late. is too late. God shut the door. Now, if you're
a sinner just like me, if you're a sinner just like me, if you're a sinner just like
me, who knows that all of us in our flesh are outcast from
God. If you know that, just like I
know that, I'm a sinner who if God leaves me to myself, preacher
or no preacher, I'm an outcast from God. If you know that with
me, let's listen to the voice of our Savior. Go with me to
John 10. John 10, look at verse 7. Then said Jesus unto them again,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. Christ is the door back in. Christ is the only way in. Only in Christ will we hear,
welcome in. Only in Christ. If He, in mercy,
allows us to find Him. If He, in mercy, draws us to
Himself. No man can come to Him except
the Father draw him, right? If He, in mercy, draws us to
Himself, and if He says to our hearts, behold me, I'm the door. I'm the one and only door. If
He says that to our hearts, let's start knocking. And don't stop knocking until
he opens to us. Our Lord said in the book of
Ezekiel, I'm going to do all these things for my people. But
I'm going to be inquired of. By them to do it for them, they're
going to ask for me to do this. So let's start knocking. Let's
start asking. Let's start seeking. Let's start
knocking. Now go with me one more time
back to our text. Matthew 7. For any soul who has
a dying interest in these things, here's the promise of God Almighty
to us. Matthew 7 verse 7. Ask and it
shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. And
it shall be opened unto you for everyone that asketh receiveth
and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall
be opened. What he's saying is. If we'll
come to him. If we'll come to him alone, he'll
provide us with everything we need. If we ask Him, we'll receive. If we seek Him, we'll find everything
we need. If we knock on the one and only
door, His work, His blood, Christ alone, He said, it'll be open. It'll be open. All right, stand
with me.