Good evening, everybody. It's
wonderful to be here with you again. It really is. We had a wonderful day, and it
is humbling to both Hannah and I how well you are taking care
of us. We appreciate it so much. I love that song we just sung.
I'd never sung that before. Turn with me if you would tonight
to Matthew chapter 7 Matthew chapter 7 now you and
I both know that I The Word of God goes out all
the time to people who are not interested. Isn't that right? That precious
Gospel. It goes out all the time to people
who are not interested. Solomon said, Remember now thy
Creator in the days of thy youth. Dear young people, and really it doesn't matter
how old you are, this is as young as you're ever going to be. Right
now, this is as young as you will ever be. This is your youth. Remember now thy Creator in the
days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years
draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them."
I'm just not interested. Bow the knee to Christ right
now. Right now. Aren't we so blessed
to have the Gospel? Aren't we so blessed? Generations are here. Some of
you were children when the Lord brought the gospel to your ears
and your heart. 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 not interested. They're
just not interested. And even though God proves in
His Word time and time again, page after page, even though
He proves in His Word that every single soul that's born into
this world is sick with sin, absolutely eaten up with sin,
Every soul on this earth stands in need of the mercy and the
forgiveness of God People are going to meet God every second
of every day Every second of every day And
even though the message that determines eternal life and eternal
death is plainly declared in God's Word. He said, I thank
Thee, Father, You've hid these things from the wise and prudent
and revealed them to babes. A child can understand what He's
saying. But every soul on this earth,
most every soul on this earth is not interested. Just not interested,
but you know what? Thank God. And we'll emphasize,
thank God. And we all know why we say thank
God. Some are. Some are. Some are interested. Some people
know they're sick. Some do. Our Lord said, they that are
whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick do. They
do. You don't have to convince a
man who is truly sick that he's sick. He knows he is. He knows
he is. You don't have to spend your
time and waste your breath going down to the cancer ward trying
to get people to believe you that they're sick. They know
they're sick. They know they are. Some people know it. The message that God declares
inside the pages of this book is an announcement of the free
gift of the unsearchable riches of Christ. Is that not true? Is that not what it is? When
God's people come to this book They're at the reading of the
will. Isn't that right? This is what He left for you. Unsearchable riches of Christ,
absolutely free. And it's amazing, it's absolutely
amazing that most, every soul on this earth is not interested.
Isn't that amazing? Not interested, but thank God.
Oh, thank God. Some people are. Some people
are. Some people know they are poor. Some do. Some people know they
don't have anything, spiritually speaking. Spiritually speaking,
some people know, our Lord Himself stood up in the synagogue that
was in Nazareth, and from His own Word, can you envision? Here the Lord enters the synagogue
in Nazareth, and the pastor of the synagogue hands Him the book,
Isaiah 61. He finds the page in the book
He wrote. And He read to them from His
own Word, that he came to open the prison
doors and set the prisoners free. And they weren't interested.
They wanted to throw him off of a cliff. You remember that? But do you
know who would be interested in that? There are some people
who would truly be interested to hear that. Some people know
they are bound. Some people, thank God, some
people know they are bound. The goodness and the kindness
of God has declared to us how sinful man can be justly forgiven. Isn't that right? The goodness
and kindness of God. How God's anger, and that's what
most people don't understand. God is angry. He's so angry,
isn't He? God is good. God is great. Let
us thank Him for our food. God is angry. He's so angry with
the wicked every day. He cannot clear the guilty. He
will not clear the guilty. Isn't that right? But in His
goodness, in His kindness, He has revealed to us how sinners
against Him can be justly forgiven, how His anger can be satisfied,
and how the Lord Jesus Christ can reinstate to sinners everything
they lost. everything they lost. And thank
God some are interested. Some are interested. This message
is for those of us who are. That's who this is to. This is
to those of us who know we are sick. God has revealed to some
of us that in this flesh we're sick. And God has revealed to
some of us that in this flesh we are poor. So poor. And in this flesh, we are bound. And it's all because we're sinners.
This message is for those who are empty, lost, and outcast. That's who this is for. Verse
7 is our text tonight. Matthew 7, verse 7, Our Lord
said, Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you." Is that not glorious? Isn't that fantastic? Now, the only time a person will
truly ask is when he is empty. That's the only time he'll ask.
It's when he's empty. Man by nature does not want to
ask anything. Nothing. This flesh is too proud. It's too arrogant. This flesh
says, I'm more than happy to tell you a few things. You sit
there and I'll tell you some things, but I don't want to hear
what you have to say. I don't want to ask. Whenever God empties a man though,
when God truly empties a man, when God empties a man of his
own wisdom, when God empties a man of his own pride, when
God empties a man of his own security, his own foundation,
when God shows him everything he believed, everything he was
resting on, hoping in is sand, quicksand. When God reveals that to a sinner,
he'll start asking. He'll start begging. He will
know. He'll be absolutely convinced.
Absolutely convinced. I don't have what I need. I don't have what I need. And if God ever gave a man or
a woman the ability to ask of Him one thing, what should they
ask? If God put it in the heart of
a man or a woman to ask one thing, what should he ask? Peter was
given that ability. God put him in a position where
he had just enough time to ask for one thing. Turn with me over
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 the 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. He was walking on the water.
He was walking on the water. As long as he had his eyes on
Christ, he was doing something that with man is impossible. Absolutely impossible. But when
he took his eyes off of Christ, and when he saw how mighty the
waves were, and when he saw how weak and in trouble he was, and
that's what happened in that moment, he realized, I'm out
of the ship. I'm standing on something that
cannot hold me. And this is about to kill me.
This is all about to come down on me. Can you imagine the horror
when that hit him? Verse 30 says, But when he saw
the wind boisterous, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, now have
you ever jumped in a pool of water? A lake, a river? How long does
it take from the time your toes touch that water for your head
to go under? How long does it take? Beginning to sink. As soon as he felt himself fall,
he had just enough time to cry, Lord, save me. Verse 30 says, when he saw the
wind boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried
saying, Lord, save me. And immediately, Jesus stretched forth his hand
and caught him and said unto him, O thou of little faith,
why did you doubt me? Why did you doubt me? For every
soul who has been emptied by God, I mean emptied, every soul
who sees where I stand on my own, I have no foundation. I have no hope. This is about
to take me down. Every soul that God has emptied,
there may only be enough time for us to ask this one thing.
This is the only thing we need to ask though. Lord, save me. Lord, save me. At that one second,
that one moment, Peter's boat didn't matter to him, His nets didn't matter to Him.
Nothing mattered but this. Peter had attained quite a bit.
Nothing mattered but this. Lord, save me. Oh, may God cause
us to cry that from the heart with sincerity. In the fear of
the Lord, may God cause all of us, may God cause our children
to cry this from the depths of our soul. Lord, save us. Save
us. I am the dying sinner in need. I am. It's not just sinners need
you. I need you. I need you. I'm the sinner. I'm the one in
need. I can't. You must. Lord, save
me. Save me. Go with me back to Matthew
7. Matthew 7 verse 7 says, Ask and
it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. The only soul who will truly
seek is the soul who knows he's lost or has lost something. That's the only one who will
truly, truly seek. When we sinned against God, we
lost God. 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. Man died in the garden. Man didn't
just get a slap on the wrist and say, now go home, you're
not welcome here anymore. Man died. We lost life. The wages of sin is death. Turn with me though to Leviticus
17. We're going to turn to a few scriptures here. Leviticus chapter 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 spotless
blood will make an atonement for the sinful soul. That wonderful,
precious, precious blood will make an atonement for the soul
that lost it all. I mean lost it all. It will be
a covering for that soul, an atonement. It will be a hiding
place for that soul. That soul will find safety in
that blood, under the covering of that blood. The God who punishes
all sin, this is what he said, when I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. I'll pass over you. Where is
this blood? Where can I find it? Do you know
where it is? It's in Emmanuel's veins. It's in Christ. That's where I can find it. That's
where I can have it. We will find mercy from God if
we can get to Christ and be found in Him. His blood will spare us from
what we deserve. His blood will spare us. Now go with me over to Jeremiah
29. 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 All your heart The atonement that we need
for the life that we lost is in the blood of Christ. And he
said, you will seek me and find me when you search for me with
all your heart. Now, how does a sinner seek God
with all of his heart? You can tell a sinner that. You
will find the Lord Jesus Christ when you seek Him with all your
heart. How does a sinner do that? I never heard the Course we just
read and as soon as we started into it I thought, this is fantastic. that comes from Psalm 27. Let's
look at that together. Turn over with me to Psalm 27.
Here's the answer. How does a sinner seek God with
all of his heart? That is the only thing that will
allow a sinner to be found in Him, be found under that blood. How does a sinner seek God with
all of his heart? Psalm 27, the answer is in verse
8. When thou saidst, seek ye my
face, my heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek. When you said, it's time to start
seeking, that's when my heart said, I think I'm gonna seek
the Lord. When you called me, come, That's
when this heart right here said, I think I'm going to go to the
Lord. That's called grace before mercy. You'll find mercy in Christ. Grace brought you to Christ.
Grace moved on that heart. If a man seeks God for mercy,
God's grace caused him to seek. Caused him to seek God. Now,
is anybody in here lost? Is anybody in here lost? Religion,
I think about religion. Is anybody in here lost? Let
me ask you this, is anybody in here lost? Does anybody here feel like in
their flesh they have no hope because they are without God
in the world? Does anybody feel like in their
flesh they have lost righteousness? As you look to your own flesh,
do you see in your own flesh the righteousness you need to
stand before God, or do you feel like you lost it? Do you feel like in your flesh
there's no atonement here? There's no covering here? I'm
naked before the God I've sinned against. If that describes anybody here
like it describes me, look with me at Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55 verse 6 says, Seek
ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. He is near. He is near. His call to us through His Word,
He speaks to us through His Word is, seek the Lord while He may
be found. Call on Him while He's near. Do you know what He said about
the gathering of His believers? He said, where two or three are
gathered together, I am in the midst of you. Do you believe
that? My mind can't get around that,
but I believe it. He's here. If we are truly meant
to worship Him and to glorify Him and to give all honor and
praise for His salvation, not unto us, He's here. He's here. He's near. Verse 7 says, "...Let the wicked
forsake his way." Lord, my way is not Thee way. The unrighteous man, his thoughts,
I acknowledge that my thoughts are wrong. They're not Yours
and therefore they're wrong. "...Let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him." Into our God for he will abundantly
pardon. I love the word abundantly He
won't just pardon us. He will abundantly pardon us Seek him right now in the heart
seek him in the heart Go with me back over to Matthew 7 Verse 7 says, Ask and it shall be given you.
Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. A person will not knock until
he realizes he's on the outside. He will not start knocking until
he realizes he's on the outside. Man by nature has no idea he's
an outcast, does he? No idea. Adam sinned against God and God
cast him out of that garden. Outcast. Without. Over in Revelation 22, look with
me over at Revelation 22. This is the last chapter in the
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, those who are without, without Christ, without His mercy,
without His grace. Without are dogs, and sorcerers,
and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever
loveth and maketh a lie. And that describes every soul
on this earth. That describes every soul on this earth. Most
every soul on this earth has no idea that every human being
is born into this world without, without the blessing, without
the acceptance of God. But every soul without the blood
of Christ is going to realize that after it's too late. They're
all going to realize that after it's too late. You think about
how many people started beating on the door of that ark after
the rain fell. You think about that. How many
people were standing around that ark and after the rain fell,
they started beating on that door. It was too late. God shut
the door. God shut the door. Now if you're
a sinner just like I am, who knows that in our flesh we
are outcast. Listen to the voice of our Lord,
okay? You can turn or listen, either
way. This is John chapter 10. Our Lord said in John chapter
10 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. If God has revealed to us that
we are outcast, Christ is the only way in. Only in Christ will
we hear, welcome in. If He in mercy allows us to find
Him, if He says, seek me. If He in mercy draws us to Himself. If He says to my heart, behold
me, I'm the door. I'm the door. Come to me. Then let's start knocking. Let's
start knocking. Don't stop knocking until He
opens the door. Our Lord said in the book of
Ezekiel, He said, 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.
That's what He said. I'm going to do all these things,
but they're going to ask for me to do it for them. I'm going
to be inquired of. If He has brought us to the door,
let's start knocking. Let's start knocking. Don't stop. Don't stop. Back in our text
in Matthew 7, Any soul who has a dying interest
in these things, here is the promise of our God to us. Matthew
7 verse 7 says, Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall
find. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth. And he that seeketh findeth. And to him that knocketh, it
shall be opened." It shall be opened. What he's saying is,
if you come to the Lord Jesus Christ, He will supply all your
need, everything you need. You come to Christ and He'll
provide all of your need of salvation. He will show you, I am eternal
life. You will find eternal life. If
we come to Christ, we have found eternal life. And He said, I
am the door. I am the way in. All who come
to the Father by Him are going to hear, welcome in. Welcome
in. You come to Christ. Ask, seek,
and knock. May the Lord bless His word to
our hearts.