this one uh... by way of no doubt
i didn't put this in the bulletin but we're not going to have wednesday
service this week so mark that down just just when you're born
mark through it cost uh... which i'm just gonna take a break
and we'll start back up the week after so no wednesday service
this week all right asking seeking and knocking matthew seven verse
seven ask and it shall be given you seek and you shall find knock
and it shall be open unto you. Those are very familiar verses,
aren't they? Most of us really have heard those from our youth
up. But what I want you to see this morning, we're gonna hopefully
get through verse 12 there. The thrust of these verses has
to do with salvation, all right? A lot of people, when they read
that verse 7, ask, seek, and knock, they'll think about prayer.
Well, he's really not talking about prayer here. Now, there
is teaching in the New Testament concerning the prayers of believers,
you know that. Christ himself talked about that
over in Matthew chapter 6 in the model prayer. And I'm going
to use a verse from James chapter 4 and verse 3, which is talking
about the prayer of believers. uh... to make a point here in
just a few minutes about this asking and seeking and knocking
but what these verses all the way down to verse twelve and
and within the context now is showing this that salvation is
there for the asking and anyone who asked for it anyone who seeks
it anyone who knocks at the door Shall have it. And one of the
things that that brings to our minds is this, you know, people
do not believe and a lot of people do not believe or they actually
hate or they deny the doctrine of election. God's electing grace,
unconditional election, which is a biblical doctrine. It's
a gospel doctrine. Because it tells us that if God
hadn't chosen us, we would never choose him. Just like one person
said, if God, you know, if God came down and got the whole human
race, the fallen sinful human race together in a congregation
and said, now I'm going to leave it up to you all. How many of
you want to seek and follow me? It would be zero votes. Now that's
what the Bible teaches. No man can come to me except
the father, which has sent me draw him. and so we could go
on and on about that but what this shows us this is the doctrine
of election is there to glorify God and to humble sinners and
it's never to be preached in a way to discourage sinners from
seeking the Lord or asking for salvation or knocking at the
door of salvation in fact it's really Paul said the only encouragement
that he had for evangelism You remember over in 2 Timothy 2,
well, I can't remember if it was chapter two, but over in
one, when he was writing to Timothy and Paul was in prison and he
was suffering and he'd gone through trials. Now you think about the
ministry of the apostle Paul and what all he'd gone through,
all this trouble. And basically, uh, what he's
telling Timothy, he said, he said, now, why do I put up with
this? Why do I go, why don't I, you
know, why don't I just quit and go off and live by myself? And
I believe the gospel and to heck with everybody else. No, he said,
I, I do. I suffer it all. I do it all
for the elect sake. God has a people. now you know
we come in here every Sunday and then off and on on Wednesday
and we don't have very many people so why do we do that? why do
we put out the TV program? why do we live stream? because
God has a people and we know he's got a people out there that
he's yet to call into the fold because he hasn't returned to
this earth yet when that last top stone is laid he'll come
back So the doctrine of election is not a discouragement to evangelize
and for sinners to seek the Lord. It's the only encouragement because
if God hadn't chosen a people, there'd be no salvation. And
he chose them in Christ. So when he talks about asking,
ask and it shall be given. Nobody will be turned away who
ask. Seek and you shall find. Nobody
will go away empty who truly seeks. They'll always find, and
then knock and it shall be opened. There's never, listen, there's
never a closed locked door between the Lord of glory, the God who
justifies the ungodly, the God of all grace, and a sinner knocking
at that door. It's always open. Now Christ said it this way,
he said, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. So what's
the problem? Why isn't everybody asking? Why isn't everybody seeking?
Why isn't everybody knocking? I mean, you think about it. I
mean, this is salvation by grace. This is salvation and every blessing
of salvation, full and free and complete in Christ. Well, now this is where I want
to, I printed up this, this verse in the book of James, James four
and verse three. He says, you ask and receive
not. because you ask amiss that you
may consume it upon your lust now James in the context of James
he is talking about prayer he's talking about professing believers
praying to God asking for things in their life okay and they're
not getting what they asked for and he says well now here's the
reason you're not getting what you asked for you ask amiss Amiss. Now what does that word amiss
means? You know what it means? It means sick. It's the same word that's used
in the New Testament when it talks about Christ healing the
sick. And what it means is this. You
ask wrongly. You ask in a sick way. Or the
way you ask reveals the sickness of your mind. And that's the
problem. Now think about it in the context
of salvation. Now again, James was talking
about prayer, he was. But let's move that concept over
to the realm of salvation here in Matthew 7, 7. Ask and it shall
be given you. What are sinners asking for? Seek and you shall find. What
are sinners seeking? Knock and it shall be opened
to you. What door are sinners knocking?
At what door? Well, here's the thing. Ask and
you shall find. Or ask and it shall be given
you. Ask for what? Ask for salvation and underscore
this, God's way. Not your way. Not my way. You see, by nature, we're like
little children asking our parents either for things that they cannot
give us or would not be good for us. That's by nature. All
right? Go back to Cain and Abel. Both
Cain and Abel were asking, seeking, and knocking. Now what was Cain
asking for? He was asking salvation for salvation,
but amiss in a way that he could consume it upon his own lust,
meaning in a way that he could glorify in himself. I made the
difference. My works, my goodness, my decision,
my will. Now is that what you're asking
for? If it is, you're not going to get it. Because God cannot
give it to you that way. And you heard me right. God cannot
give it to you that way. Why? Is God too weak? Is He not all-powerful? Oh yes,
God is all-powerful. He's not too weak. But God cannot
give you salvation based upon your works, your will, because
it would deny Himself. It would deny his justice. I'll never forget, I heard a
preacher say one time on tape, or he was preaching and recorded
on tape. And he made this statement. He said, God did not have to
send Christ to the earth to die for our sins. He could have,
if he'd wanted to just snap his fingers and we'd all be redeemed. Now, he thought, that preacher
thought that he was elevating, glorifying the sovereignty and
the power of God, but he wasn't. God could not just snap his fingers
and save people. Now you want to know why? It's
because God is a just God and he must punish sin. He must do it in a way that honors
his nature, his glory, his justice, as well as his love. And that's
why he had to send Christ, God in human flesh. And that's why
Christ had to live a perfect life and go to the cross based
upon the sins of his people imputed to him and die that death under
the wrath of God as a guilty person. based on sin imputed
to him. That's why he had to pay the
debt, drink damnation dry, be buried, and rise from the dead. Because God is just. What was
Cain asking for? He was asking for salvation in
a way that Cain could have some room to glory. And he didn't
get it. What was Abel asking for? He
was asking for God's way of salvation that glorified God and gave Abel
no room to glory. It was all based upon the blood
of the substitute, the righteousness of the lamb. And you know what? He received, it was given to
him. Now we know the only difference
between a Cain and an Abel is the grace of God. Isn't that
right? So what are you asking for? What
do most people who call themselves Christian, when they talk about
salvation, what did they ask for? Well, God's trying to save
everybody. Christ died for everybody. It's
up to me. I seal the deal. I make the difference. That's not in the book. You know,
God's way of salvation is plainly spelled out in this book. It's not hidden. as far as the
revelation of it. But it's hidden from the natural
man because it's foolishness to it. It doesn't seem fair to him.
Boy, I'll tell you what people better be careful when they start
talking about fairness. Oh, you talk about, you know,
we, when we talk about election or we talk about salvation by
grace, based on the imputed righteousness of Christ, they say that's not
fair. Oh my soul. You better be careful when you
start talking about what's fair. You know, what's fair. What is
just. What if God were to give us today,
right now, what we justly deserve? What's fair to me? Lord, if thou Lord should us
mark iniquities, who would stand? Oh, blessed is the man to whom
the Lord imputed not iniquity, to whom God imputed righteousness
without works. Seeking the Lord. That's a concept
and a command from God in the gospel from the very beginning.
Cain, seek the Lord. Well, Cain said, well, I am seeking
the Lord, but it was a God of his own imagination. It was an
idol. You say, well, I've sought the
Lord. Well, who is the Lord? How does he reveal himself? This
is why I tell you that the missing note In today's quote Christian
gospel, which is a false gospel, the popular one, is the justice
of God. They want to emphasize love,
and I do too, but not apart from justice. People don't have any
idea of justice. Their idea of mercy is God just
looking over their mistakes, so to speak. and saving them
in spite of them. God doesn't save people in spite
of their sins. God has to deal with those sins
because He's a just God. So when you seek the Lord, the
first thing you need to understand is who He is. He's the God who
justifies the ungodly. That's how Abraham knew Him.
That's how Abel knew Him. That's why Abel brought the blood.
Cain didn't know him as such, that's why he brought the works
of his hands. And when people today, they say,
well, I'm seeking the Lord, they may mean they're seeking morality
or they're seeking church membership. They're really seeking something
in themselves to make the difference between saved and lost. That's what you're seeking, you
won't find. You'll find, I've gotten into the lesson here,
it's like searching for gold in a minefield. All you're gonna be, all you're
gonna find is, boom, blow up, condemnation and death. Knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. I've got written out here, John
chapter 10, verse one, look at it. Christ said, verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way. The same is a thief and a robber.
If you're not, if you're knocking at the door and it's not the
door of Christ Jesus, you're a thief and a robber is what
he says here. You're trying to steal God or rob God of his glory. He says verse two, but he that
entereth him by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him
the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth
his own sheep by his name and leadeth them out. Now Christ
is speaking of himself there. He himself, who is the door,
entered through the door of God's justice when he became our surety. And when he became our substitute,
when he died on the cross, that was the door that he opened and
he himself is the door. That's an amazing thing. He says
in verse four, when he put forth his own sheep, he goeth before
them. See what I'm saying? He went before us. He's the first
fruits. The firstborn among many brethren,
speaking of his death, burial, and resurrection, he opened the
way and became the door, and a stranger they will not follow,
verse five, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice
of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things they were which he
spake unto them. And then said Jesus unto them,
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 didn't hear them. I'm
the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture." This
is a guarantee of salvation and all of its blessings for anyone,
any sinner who asks and who seeks and who knocks at the door of
God's grace in Christ. God's way of salvation by free
sovereign grace based on the righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's a guarantee. And I'm telling you, God has
never and will never turn any, will ever turn any sinner away
who comes asking, seeking and knocking this way. But go to
first, go to John chapter one. Verse 11, he came unto his own and his
own received him not. They didn't ask. They didn't
seek. They didn't knock. You see that? They didn't receive him. Somebody
says salvation is a gift, but we've got to receive it. The
problem is it's a gift we don't want. until God gives us some
information, some knowledge, experiential knowledge of what
we really are and what we really deserve and the only way out
of this mess that we're in called sin. Is that right? You see, before the Holy Spirit
brings us to a saving knowledge of who God really is and who
we really are, We're not gonna want the salvation that God has. We're not gonna ask for it. We're
not gonna seek it. We're not gonna knock at the
right door. We'll knock at the door of the church. We'll knock
at the door of religious works. We'll knock at the door of our
own heart, which is deceptive above all things. But we won't
knock at the door of grace, the door of Christ. And we won't receive him. But
look at verse 12. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power, that means the right, to become or to be
called the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
And who are they? Verse 13, which were born, not
of blood, nor the will of the flesh, that's the works of the
flesh, nor the will of man, that's the will of man, but of God. So, who's gonna ask? Who's gonna
seek? Who's gonna knock? Well, Christ
said it there in John 10, my sheep. The Pharisees refused and he
said, you believe not because you're not of my sheep. That's
the elect of God. Now here's what my question is,
as we evangelize, do you want the salvation that God provides
by his grace through the righteousness of another? Do you see your need
of that? Okay, now go back to Matthew
7. Verse eight, for everyone that asketh receiveth. There's
no doubt. Now this is why I'm saying that
he's not really talking about prayer here per se, even though
we can talk about this in other contexts. But I know this, in
prayer I certainly don't receive everything I ask for. You say,
well Bill, you're asking amiss. Well, not always. I'm sure we do ask a miss for
some things, but in our prayers, the whole foundation of our prayers,
the whole reason our prayers are accepted is through the blood
of Christ, the righteousness of Christ, but the whole foundation
of the prayer is thy will be done. We don't always know God's
will in Providence. I don't know what God's will
for me this afternoon is, for example, what I'm gonna go through. I hope it's a good afternoon. relaxing afternoon may not be
I don't know we don't know but his will be done I pray Lord
give me a good afternoon Lord give me a relaxing afternoon
I'm I don't believe I'm asking that in a sick way you say that's
just what I desire he may or may not give it but what he's
talking about here verse 8 everyone that asketh receiveth And he
that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be
opened. He's talking about salvation, salvation God's way. You see
that? Now, how can we have confidence
that we will be given what we ask for, if we ask for it God's
way, that we will find what we're seeking for, that the door will
be open? We'll look at verse 9. Or what
man is there of you whom if his son asks bread will give him
a stone? Or if he asks a fish will give
him a serpent? If you then being evil know how
to give good gifts to your children, he's talking about sinful men
and women. If you know how to give good
gifts to your children, well how much more shall your father
which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Even the lost know how to give good gifts to their children.
Now, I did put a little thing in there. I said, I know we see
so much of the sin and depravity of man sometimes coming out when
man's depravity goes unchecked and they harm their children
or abandon their children. We see some of that, but on the
whole, People know how to deal with their children, how to give
good gifts to their children. Well, if that's the case with
evil people, sinful people, think about God. How much more is he
able and knows how to give good gifts to his children? God knows
how to do it. And he does it in a way that
honors himself. And so look here in verse 12,
now look at this. Therefore all things whatsoever
you would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them,
for this is the law and the prophets. Now, that's what's commonly called
the golden rule, as you know, it's written in Luke 6.31 also. We often state it this way, do
unto others as you would have them do unto you. Well, that's
certainly a biblical principle. Doesn't, in Matthew, in Mark
chapter 12, you know, when the lawyer or the scribe asked the
Lord, what's the greatest of all the commandments? You remember
what he said? I've got it written out there. He says, well, the
first commandment is, hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy
soul, all thy mind, all thy strength. Perfect love to God. And then
he says, and the second is like, namely this, thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself. No commandment greater than this,
that's perfect love to our neighbor. So in other words, that demands
that perfect love, that perfection of love, it demands that what
I desire for myself as far as good things and especially salvation,
and that's what he's talking about, and that's what I desire
for you. Now, the perfect standard of
love certainly convicts all of us, doesn't it? It shows us how
far, it's just another way of God showing us how far short
we fall of the perfection of righteousness in the law. And
that continually drives us to Christ for all righteousness.
You see, it's not my love for him or for you that saves me. It's his love for me, as evidenced
by his death on my behalf and establishing righteousness for
me. So that's what he's talking about. And that's where he invokes
the golden rule here in the context of salvation. Now to prove that
he goes into verse 13 about the straight gate and the narrow
way. And that's the way of salvation,
the way of God's grace. We're gonna pick up there next
week. But let me conclude with this. The Bible says, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. We don't
doubt that for a second. But here's the key, what is his
name? Now in the Bible, the name of the Lord identifies and distinguishes
him in all that he is and all that he does concerning uh... his workings and especially his
glory in the salvation of sinners so when you call upon his name
Cain when he came to God he was calling upon the name of an idol
you say well he didn't know it well none of us know until God
chose us Abel was calling upon the name of the Lord It says
in Revelation chapter 22, verse 17, the spirit and the bride
say come, let him that heareth say come, and let him that is
a thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take of the water
of life freely. Whosoever will, everybody, all
right, yeah, I believe whosoever will. The problem is is that
man by nature is a whosoever won't. That's what the scripture
teaches, but whosoever will. And you remember, he's talking
about drinking of the water of life. Remember over in Matthew
chapter five and verse six in the Beatitudes, blessed is he
who hungers and thirsts after righteousness. They'll be filled. If you hunger and thirst after
righteousness, that means you know you don't have one to recommend
you to God. You can't work one. And if you
want one, it's the work of God making you hungry and thirsty
for it. And you know this, you're only going to find it in Christ.
You're not going to find it anywhere else or in anyone else. All right.