Let us turn to the portion that
we've just read here in Matthew chapter 7 and the familiar words
that we find in verses 7 and 8. Matthew 7, 7 and 8. Ask and it shall be given you.
Seek and you shall find. Knock 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." We often, as we come to prayer, remind the Lord God
of these words of Christ, this commandment, this promise of
the Lord Jesus. And as we remind God, I'm sure
we seek also to remind ourselves of the truth of his word so I
want us just to look at these two verses for a little while
before we come again to God with our prayers and petitions and
the theme really is simply the asking of prayer the asking of
prayer you have probably in times past observed the first letter
of the first words in this threefold exhortation. The letters A, S,
and K, ask, seek, and knock. The asking then of prayer. The Lord Jesus in the course
of the sermon is speaking of prayer once again, because as
we have seen in the previous sixth chapter, we have the Lord's
Prayer. After this manner therefore pray
ye. There in chapter 6 and verse
9 and then follows what we call the Lord's Prayer. Really it
is that pattern prayer. The Lord Jesus instructing us
with regards to the substance of our praying and the order
of our praying. After this manner he says in
Luke's accounts of the pattern prayer on a different occasion
there in Luke 11 he says when ye pray say and so we have that
pattern of praying well the Lord has spoken of prayer here in
chapter 6 and now he begins to speak of prayer again And whereas
previously we have the pattern prayer, here in chapter 7 we're
reminded of God's readiness to answer our prayers. We will not
pray in vain. If we follow the instruction,
the direction of the Lord Jesus, God will answer our prayers. Doesn't the Lord go on to say
as much in what follows? In verse 11 he says, If ye then
being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how
much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things
to them that ask him? How much more? God more ready
to give than we are to receive. Now, all of this instruction
is very much part of a sermon. It's all part of the Sermon on
the Mount. We might ask, how does what the
Lord is saying about prayer fit into the context of this whole
sermon that fills three chapters, 5, 6, and 7? One of the key texts
that we have in the prayer is found back in chapter 5. and
verse 20 where Christ says unto his disciples and says unto us
I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and pharisees ye shall in no
case enter into the kingdom of heaven well we enter into the
kingdom of heaven of course by prayers and ultimately We anticipate
that that will be our eternal dwelling place. But Christ says,
Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of scribes
and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into that kingdom
of heaven. We know that these Pharisees
were legalists, they were concerned for the law of God, but they
were only really concerned for the external aspects of that
law. Remember that Paul was once one
of those Pharisees, and what does he say? Writing there in
Philippians 3, as touching the law, a Pharisee. He goes on,
as touching the righteousness, which is in the law, He was guiltless. He really thought that he was
one who was able to keep the law of God. He lived such a pharisaic
life. As he says back in Acts 26, after
the strictest manner of our religion, I lived
a pharisaic. He lived a pharisaic life and
yet Though a Pharisee having all this great concern for the
Lord of God, he really knew not the Lord at all. How differently
this man speaks when we see him later as a Christian believer. The language that he employs
there in Romans 7, for example, he says, I was alive without
the Lord once. But when he lived that Pharisaic
life, he thought he was very much alive to God. but how different
now I was alive without the law once but when the commandment
came sin revived and I died and the commandment which was ordained
to life I found to be unto death he discovered the truth about
himself and the sad state of his life he thought he was living
and yet he was dead in trespasses and in sins and he goes on to
say we know that the Lord is spiritual But I am carnal, I
am but a natural man sold under sin. Now, when we come to consider
the content of this sermon we see how, amongst other things,
the Lord Jesus clearly expounds the true nature of the Lord of
God. He expounds the spirituality of the Lord of God, doesn't he?
Back in chapter 5 at verses 21 and 22 He speaks of spiritual murder. The 6th Commandment says, Thou
shalt not kill, thou shalt do no murder. But, says Christ,
you might not commit the deed, but if you have hatred in your
heart towards your brother, that's murder. He goes on to speak of
the 7th Commandment in verses 27 and 28. You might not commit the act
of adultery, but if you are wanton in your thoughts, there is adultery
in your heart. Oh, how the Lord expounds then
the true spiritual nature of that Lord of God. None conform
to that law. That law is there to condemn
men. It's the ministration. of condemnation. It's the ministration of death.
That's what Paul says in the third chapter of 2nd Corinthians.
That's its real purpose. Whatever things the law says,
it says to them who are under the law that every man may be
stopped and all the world become guilty before God. And yet, we must have a righteousness
And it must be a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes
and Pharisees. How can we obtain it? Well, Christ
speaks of prayer. We have to ask. We have to ask
for these things. And that's what he is saying
surely here in the text. We're to ask. We're to seek. We're to knock. We're to be importunity
in our praying not to give over we are to persevere and press
on and of course we have the encouragement of what Christ
says in the opening words of the sermon because the sermon
begins with those beatitudes and amongst them what does he
say blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness
for they shall be filled We have no righteousnesses of our own. And we're not to think for a
moment that our praying is in any sense meritorious, that we
obtain something because of anything that we have done. How are we
to pray? We're to come, we're to pray
as poor beggars. Maybe many a times we feel that's
what our prayers are like. They're such poor prayers really,
those feeble desires. those wishes so weak, tis Jesus
inspires and bids us still seek. All those yearnings, those longings,
that's part and parcel of our seeking. And what does Christ
say here in this 11th verse? He speaks of God's readiness
to give good things. In the context, of course, What
man is heir of you, whom, if his son ask bread, will he give
him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he
give him a serpent? If ye, then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your heavenly Father, or your Father which is in heaven, give
good things to them that ask him? Oh, we are to ask. We are to
ask Him. And He'll give good things. Now,
I'm sure you're aware that there's a corresponding verse, isn't
there? In Luke. There in Luke 11, 13. And we discover there that amongst
the good things, the Lord speaks specifically of the Holy Spirit.
If she being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children. How much more shall your Heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? Oh, that is the best of all donations. That is the gift of the exalted
Christ. How He bestowed the Spirit there
on the day of Pentecost, exalted by God the Father. Peter says,
He has shed forth this which ye now see unto you. that blessed
coming of the Holy Spirit. And now, it's really the fulfillment
of that prophecy that we find back in Zechariah chapter 12
and verse 10. I will pour upon the house of
David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace
and of supplications. Well, we have to plead that promise
that God will indeed pour upon us that Spirit that came on the
day of Pentecost, the Spirit of grace and supplications to
help us. The Spirit, Paul says, helps
our infirmities. We know not what to pray for
as we ought, but the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings
that cannot be uttered. Well, coming to Look at the actual
content of these two verses, these familiar words in verses
7 and 8. Ask and it shall be given you,
seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.
For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth,
and him that knocketh, it shall be opened. And three things I
want to just mention from the text this evening. First of all,
here we have precepts. Secondly, here we have promises. And thirdly, here we see something
of the paternity, or we'd rather say the fatherhood, of God. Just briefly then to consider
those three things. First of all, the precepts. Ask, seek, knock. It's a threefold exhortation.
And each time it's the imperative mood. It's the authority of a
command. It's the Lord Jesus who is speaking.
And where the word of a king is, there is power, we're told
in Ecclesiastes. He has authority, you see, to
give commandment. But what does John tell us? in
his first epistle, his commandments are not grievous. His commandments
are not grievous. You think of the Lord Jesus here
in the course of his preaching. As I said back in chapter 5 at
verse 21, following he clearly sets forth the true nature of
God's law the great breadth of the Lord of God, the spirituality
of the Lord of God. Now, if Christ only did that,
if he only expanded the law, what would sinners do? What would
sinners do? We have to have a righteousness.
And except your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of
scribes and Pharisees, You cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
What are you to do? You're to ask. You're to seek,
you're to knock, believing that God will give that that is necessary
for anyone to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. And God does
give. God gives. Remember there in
Acts 20, where Paul is addressing the Ephesian elders. He speaks
of the ministry of Christ and what Christ said, although we
have no record in the Gospels, but Paul tells us it is more
blessed to give than to receive. He's a giving God. He's more ready to give than
we are to receive. And we know a man can receive
nothing except it be given him from heaven. So we have every
encouragement to come and ask that God would give. How foolish if we do not seek
those things that God is so ready to bestow upon us. If we do not
come and knock at his door and beg that he would grant us those
things that we desire of him. And remember that He is able
to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. We limit Him because of our own
belief. We are so straightened in our
own spirits, we find it difficult to believe these things. He is a God who does remarkable
things. Paul says he justifies the ungodly. That's a remarkable thing. Because
in the Old Testament under the Lord it was made plain that the
judges were to judge righteous judgment. They were to justify
the righteous and they were to condemn the wicked, the ungodly. But God justifies the ungodly. That's what God does in the Gospel,
that's what God does through the person and work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Oh, we read much of that justification
in the epistle to the Romans. There, in chapter 5 and verse
17, we read of they which receive abundance of grace and of the
gift of righteousness. They receive abundance of grace
and the gift of righteousness. It's those words that we often
refer to in Isaiah 45a. Drop down ye heavens from above
and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open and let them
bring forth salvation. And let righteousness bring up
together. I the Lord have created it. Oh, this is what God does. Christ, the end of the law, for
righteousness to everyone that believeth. Here is the plain
commandment of the Lord Jesus in the authority that he exercises. As he instructs his own disciples,
asks, he says. Seek. Knock. But not only precepts. We also
have promises. and the promises exactly answer
the commandments. And notice in these verses the promise is sixfold. You have a threefold exhortation,
a threefold commandment, but we have a sixfold promise. There are three promises in verse
7, and there are three promises in verse 8. And it's interesting just to
examine the language here because in verse 7 all of these promises
you will observe are in the future tense. You ask and it shall be given
in response to you asking. You seek, and ye shall find. It's future tense again. You
knock, and it shall be opened. And then again, at the end of
verse 8, we have another future tense. He that knocketh, it shall
be opened. So four of the promises are in
the future tense, but there are two in the present tense at the
beginning of verse 8. everyone that asketh receiveth
that's in the present and he that seeketh findeth see God's
promises are for the they're for the present, they're for
the here and now but we're also assured that God will answer
in the future they're for the present and they're for the future. And so, interestingly, when the
Lord gives us that pattern prayer, there are subtle differences,
aren't there? Here in chapter 5, where the Lord speaks of daily
bread, observe just what He says. We are to pray, give us this
day. That's the present, give us this
day. our daily bread. But in the account that we have
in Luke 11, it says give us day by day, not only this day but
all the future days. Give us day by day our daily
bread. Or we're to pray for things present
and we're to pray for things future. Our God, you see, gives us every
encouragement to pray. We don't just have exhortation
commandments, but the encouragement of the promises. All these promises,
exceeding great and precious promises. And these promises
which are all Yah and Amen in the Lord Jesus Christ. And how
God has said quite clearly before they call, I will answer, while
they are yet speaking, I will hear. And more than that, what
do we have here? When we consider these verses
we have the shalls and the wills of the New Covenant. It shall
be given you. Ye shall find. It shall be opened
unto you. This is the language of Covenant.
And when we think of Covenant it's not just a matter of God's
promise he's given that he's given his word and he magnifies
that word that promise above all his name because he has committed
himself to his promise he could swear by no greater he swore
by himself I will establish my covenant
with thee he says and thou shalt know that I am the Lord I will
he says and you shall Oh, this is the God that we're so favored
to have dealings with when we come together for prayer. He exhorts us to pray. It's His
own ordinance. He has appointed prayers. He
has said that He will be inquired of by the house of Israel. That's
His spiritual people, the spiritual Israel. He'll be inquired of
them to increase them with men as a flock. He said that. That's his promise. And what
are we to do? We're to plead it. We're to remind
him of it. We're to be bold. We should surround
him. Surround him with his promises.
Like the old Puritan said, we should come and thicken our prayers
with his words and with his promises. And then what do we see finally
here? We see something of God's gracious
fatherhood in the words that follow particularly that 11th
verse if ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your
children and you know you who are fiver to have children you
know how good it is to give gifts to loved ones even if we haven't
children there are those that we love and we want to give gifts
to them give an expression of our love to them And we are evil,
we are sinners. How much more shall your Father,
which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him,
says Christ? He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, shall He not with Him also freely
give us all things? If God has given His Son, His
Only Begotten, His Well-Beloved, that one in whom He was always
delighting, He has not withheld that gift. No, when the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem, or in the cost of that redemption. If He spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up to the death of the cross
because of that great love that He has towards sinners, What
can God withhold? He's a good God. The psalmist
tells us that, doesn't he? Thou art good, and thou doest
good. He's the best of all fathers.
The best of all fathers. How he pities his children. Like
as a father pitieth his children, the psalmist says, so the Lord
pitieth them that fear him. He knoweth our frame, he remembereth
that we are dust, Or you might say, why the Lord tries me so
sorely, I pray and I don't get what I ask, and I pray and I
don't get what I ask. He remembers that we're dust.
You know how much we can stand. He's wise, as well as good. It's for us to be those who would
trust in Him and to continue to call upon Him. And how are
we to address Him in our prayers? Or we're to call Him, Father.
After this manner, therefore, pray ye, our Father, or we address
Him as that One who is a good Father, the One who pities, the
One who knows, the One who understands. O God, grant then that we might
heed the instruction that's given us here by the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself in the course of His preaching. The Lord bless the
word to us now let us before we do pray sing hymn 379 and
the tune st bees 494 come my soul thy suit prepare jesus loves
to answer prayer he himself has bid thee pray Therefore will not say thee,
Nay, thou art coming to a king. Large petitions with thee bring,
For his grace and power as such. None can ever ask too much. The Hymn 379, Tune 494