Okay, now we're turning in our
Bible to Luke chapter 11. Luke chapter 11. I'm entitling
the message from the words that are found in verse 9 and verse
10 of Luke chapter 11. Let's read those two verses again. And I say unto you, ask and it
shall be given you. And you shall find knock, not
maybe or perhaps, knock and it shall be opened unto you for
everyone, not some folks, everyone that asketh receiveth. Everyone that seeketh findeth,
and we can add to everyone that knocketh, it shall be open. Now what an encouragement to
call upon God. What an encouragement to call
upon God. I'm entitling the message from
these words, and here's the title, Asking, Seeking, Knocking. Asking, Seeking, Knocking. and
knocking. Now remember from our text here
in Luke 11, the disciples that asked the Lord to teach them
to pray. Look at verse 1. And it came
to pass that as he was praying in a certain place, and when
he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us
to pray. Teach us to pray. And then the Lord in verse 2,
3, and 4, we had that message from last week. If you missed
that message, there's a CD out on the table. You can pick that
up and listen to it. I'll not go back over it again.
But in verse 2, down through verse 4, verse 2, 3, and 4, the
Lord gives us the disciples' prayer. Now, this
is not the Lord's prayer. This is the Lord teaching the
disciples' prayer. It is a model prayer of what
every believer is and what every believer desires. That is, chiefly,
His will be done to His glory. This short but most inclusive
prayer is complete. It's a complete, full prayer. Robert Hawker, one writer from
back in the 1800s, said of this verse, or these verses, or this
prayer, it is a blessed, comprehensive prayer. Every petition in it
is truly spiritual, contains more or less everything of what
the prayer of the faithful believer ought to be. Our Heavenly Father,
our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. The Lord
in these verses following is teaching us the value and worth
of the constant cry of the believer's heart before the throne of grace,
our Heavenly Father. Another old writer by the name
of John Charles Ryle, J.C. Ryle as he is known, said this
about praying. A man's state before God may
always be measured by his prayers unto the Lord. A man's state
before God may be always measured or gauged as he calls upon God
in prayer. Now, you listen to these instructions
that I found in the Word of God of what the Lord gives us about
praying. In 1 Peter 4 verse 7, but the
end of all things is at hand, be you therefore sober, watch
under prayer. Watch in prayer. And then in
1 Thessalonians 5, 17, this is familiar to many of you. Pray
without ceasing and in everything give thanks for this is the will
of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. So we're to pray about everything. We're to pray all the time. In
Luke 18, we're going to see this scripture when we get over there
to the 18th chapter. He spake a parable unto this
end, that men ought always to pray and never quit. Never quit. Colossians 4 verse
2, we read the apostle writing, continue in prayer and watch
in the same with thanksgiving. So watch with thanksgiving, but
continue in prayer. And then Romans 12 too, and we
could read others, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation,
continuing instant in prayer. So there's some instruction and
some encouragement about praying unto the Lord. Now, what the
Lord is teaching in this parable is importance of persevering
in prayer. Persevering and continuing in
praying. Now, notice verse 8, Luke 11
verse 8. I say unto you, though he will
not rise and give him, because he is his friend. Remember, this
is a friend asking a friend to help. Yet, because of His importunity,
He will rise and give Him as many as He needed." Now, this
word is a key word here, importunity. It's the only word, the only
time that this word appears in Holy Scripture. Importunity. The word means shameless persistence
in begging. That is, refusing to be denied
of the need that you have. That is, as we often say, that
man won't take no for an answer. He's just persistent. These are times of desperation
when we are in great need should always call upon the Lord because
of our need. When do we need to call upon
the Lord? Right now. When is our need? Right now.
What do we need? All things. When? All the time
in Christ. That was the case of blind Bartimaeus
as we read earlier in Mark chapter 10. When he in his need heard
of the Lord Jesus coming by, and began to cry out for mercy,
many around him told him to hush, but he just cried the louder,
and the Lord heard that one man cry, and he stopped, and he healed
blind Bartimaeus, and gave him sight. The Lord never turns a
deaf ear to a sincere mercy beggar. Since he delights to show mercy,
I'm going to ask him for mercy. How about you? We read over in
Luke 18 about the publican who cried out for mercy, Lord, have
mercy on me, thee, sinner. And the Lord showed mercy to
him. Now since he delights in mercy, and since all mercy is
found in him, I'm going to seek him. I'm going to seek mercy
where it's found. Since he came to save sinners,
I'm going to ask him as the chief of sinners Lord, would you save
me? This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation, that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. Seeing we have a great high priest
that is seated at the right hand of God, our Lord said, Come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy, find grace
to help in time of need. Do you have any need? Are you in need? Do you need
mercy? Do you need salvation? Call upon
the Lord right now. Right now. Right now. Now, in
verse 5 down to verse 9, we have the story of a friend at midnight. Let's read this one more time.
This is Luke chapter 11 verse 5. And he said unto them, Which
of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight? At midnight. And saying to him,
Friend, I need three loaves, the reason being because a friend
of mine is in his journey, has come to me, and I have nothing
to set before him. And the friend who has gone to
bed, and he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not,
the door is shut, my children are with me in bed, I cannot
rise and give thee I say unto you, though he would not rise
and give him because he's his friend, yet because of his importunity,
his persistent, constantly begging, he will rise and give him as
many as he needs. I say unto you, ask, and it shall
be given. Seek, and you shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. Now a friend at midnight. The
parable of the friend that would not take no for an answer. He
received the bread he asked for because he would not take no
for an answer. He just kept on knocking. Now
put yourself in this situation. It's midnight. You've gone to
bed. The children are in bed. And
you hear someone pounding on your door at midnight. And maybe you peek out and you
see it's your neighbor and you're thinking, what in the world does
this guy want? And you say, well, I'm not even going to answer
the door. He'll just go away. Well, he keeps on knocking. And
he just keeps on knocking. And eventually you give in and
you give him everything he wants. Here's the lesson for us, and
here's what the Lord is teaching. If persistence and opportunity
work so well among friends, man to man, friend to friend, how
much more should we expect to find grace and mercy from the
God of all grace, and the Father of all mercies, and the God of
all hope? Now, if it works well between
friend and friend, man to man, how much more you call upon God
in mercy. He is the God of all hope. Listen
to this scripture. Now, the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound through the
power of God the Holy Spirit. He's the God of all hope. It's a good hope we have through
grace. He's a God of all grace. Listen
to this scripture. But the God of all grace, who
hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after
that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish,
strengthen, settle you, To Him be glory and dominion forever
and ever. He's the God of all grace. Wouldn't
it be right and wise to call upon Him if you need grace? And He's the God of all grace.
Wouldn't it be wise to ask Him for grace to help in time of
need? Secondly, He's called the Father of all mercies. Listen
to this scripture, 2 Corinthians 1, Verse 3 and 4, Blessed be
God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, He is the Father
of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all
our tribulation. That being so, he's a God of
all hope, the God of all grace, the God of all mercy. He certainly
is a God of salvation for salvations of the Lord. Now look at verse
9 and 10, in the light of that, I say unto you, ask. You need mercy, you need grace,
you need salvation, ask. and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. What will you find? You'll find
that He's gracious. You'll find that He is merciful.
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 unto him. Now ask, And he means here, keep on asking
and it will be given. What is it that we so desperately
need and what should we ask for? You remember what it says back
here in verse 4, Luke 11, and forgive us our sins. We need the forgiveness of our
sins because we are sinners. Ask for all your sins to be forgiven
for Christ's sake. Ask. Have you ever asked for
mercy? Ever asked for forgiveness? He
writes in 1 John 3, little children of your sin, they are forgiven
for His name's sake. We're to love one another and
to forgive one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you. Ask or keep on asking and it
shall be given. That's his promise. More keep
asking. Secondly, he says seek or keep
on seeking and you shall find. What is it that we should keep
seeking after? the Lord Jesus Christ. You see
in Him all spiritual blessings are found. Seek ye first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be
added unto you. We say with the Apostle Paul
we count all things lost and done that we may win Christ and
be found in Him who is the Lord our righteousness. So keep on
asking, keep on seeking, Salvation, where it's found in Christ, and
then keep on knocking. Knock, knock, and it shall be
opened unto you. The door of mercy will swing
wide open to you. Keep seeking mercy in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ says, I
am the door. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved. Keep on knocking, keep on coming
to the door of mercy. You see, salvation is received
by faith, by mercy of the Lord. Now notice carefully the wide
open, broad promise that's given in verse 10. What an encouraging
word the Lord gives to us. Everyone that asketh, receiveth. Everyone that seeketh, findeth. Everyone that knocketh, shall
be opened. Now listen, I've never read one
time, and I've been reading this book 35 years or longer, I've
never read one time when the Lord has ever turned a mercy
beggar away, not one time. Now he had some sharp words to
those Pharisees who sought salvation by their deeds, by the works
of the law. He had some very sharp criticism
of them, but those who came to the Lord Jesus Christ seeking
mercy in Him, They went away healed. They went away made whole. We read in Romans 10, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I'm gonna call, that's his promise. True faith, the faith of God's
elect is never, now listen to me, I thought about this. The
true faith, true faith, the faith of God's elect is never dormant. It's never dormant. It does not
hibernate. It's always active because it's
a living principle planted in the heart of the sinner by the
gracious, powerful hand of God Almighty. Faith is the gift of
God. God gives it. It's the living
principle within you. It's never dormant. It does not
hibernate. It's always active. We read in
Scripture, he says, looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Looking,
that's what faith does. It's an active principle planted
in the heart of the sinner by the hand of Almighty God. Looking
unto the Lord Jesus Christ. And then in 1 Peter 2, he says,
to whom? Coming. We're always coming to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now how do we come to the Lord
Jesus Christ? One old preacher used to put
it this way, come to Christ and don't move a muscle. Coming to
Christ is not a physical move. We come to Christ by faith. We
come to Christ by believing on Him as the Son of God. Faith is always active. Faith
that's God-given now is always active, always coming, always
looking, always believing, always repenting. We're going to see
in Luke chapter 18 verse 7 when we get over there about the widow
who constantly was asking the unjust judge for mercy to be
avenged. Shall not God avenge His own
elect which cry day and night unto Him that we bear long with
them? I tell you that He will avenge
them speedily. They cry unto Him what? Day and
night. They always come to Him. They
always look to Him. Now let me show you two examples
found in Scripture. Faith that is born of need is
never dormant. These folks cried for mercy out
of their need, and their need was met according to the riches
of His glory through Christ Jesus. Now we've read one already in
Mark 10 verse 46 about blind Bartimaeus, and I'll pass that
one over, but let's turn to Matthew 15. This is a glorious story
about a woman in her desperate need who had a dying daughter. Her daughter was grievously vexed
with the devil. Matthew 15, verse 21. Matthew
15, verse 21. and departed into the coast of
Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan
came out of the same coast and cried unto him, saying, Have
mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David." The same thing blind
Bartimaeus cried, didn't it? The cry of mercy unto the Messiah. My daughter is grievously vexed
with a devil. And he answered her, Not a word. Now, because she had a desperate
need, what did she do? She didn't go back home, did
she? She kept right on crying. And he answered her, not a word.
He just ignored her. He ignored her. It appears that
he did. And his disciples came and besought
him saying, send her away. Now she's after us. You see,
there was no stopping her. She had a desperate need for
her dying daughter and was determined to sue for mercy. But he answered
and said, I'm not sent unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped
him, saying, Lord, help me! Help me! She's crying out of
her knee, isn't she? And he answered and said, he
just keeps throwing up roadblocks, throwing up roadblocks, doesn't
he? It's not right, it's not meek to take the children's bread
and give it to a Gentile dog. This woman wasn't a Jew, she
was a Gentile dog. First he ignored her, and then
he said, I'm sent to the sheep of Israel, and then he called
her a dog. She still didn't go home. She
kept seeking, kept knocking, kept asking. And she said, true
Lord, I'm your dog. Yet the dogs eat the crumbs which
fall from the master's table. Then the Lord answered and said,
and her old woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as
thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
that very hour. You see what I'm saying? She
kept seeking, kept asking, kept knocking, and the Lord heard
her cry. Now look back at the book of
Luke, and I want you to find Luke chapter 8, and this should
be familiar to you. Luke chapter 8, the woman with
the issue of blood. Luke chapter 8, verse 43. You should remember this story.
And a woman, Luke 8, 43, having an issue of blood 12 years, which
had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be
healed of any. Now, she sought to be healed,
but she was seeking the wrong physician. And came behind him
and touched the border of his garment, and immediately, Her
issue of blood stopped. It stanched. Now, she tried all
these other physicians and grew rather worse. But when she heard
of the Lord Jesus Christ, His saving power, she sought Him,
touched but the hem of His garment. And verse 45, the Lord said,
Who touched Me? Now, He knew who touched her.
And when all denied Peter and they that were With him said,
Master, the multitude thronged thee and pressed thee, and thou
sayest, Who touched me? And the Lord said, Somebody touched
me. For I perceived that virtue,
and the word thereof, power was gone out of me, And when the
woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, falling down
before him. And she declared unto him before
all the people for what cause she had touched him and how she
was healed immediately. And he said unto her, Daughter,
be of good comfort. Thy faith made thee whole. Go in peace. And you can find
many other examples of those who came to the Lord in need
Asking, seeking, knocking, and receive mercy. That ought to
encourage every one of us. Now, the second part of this
parable that he gives here is found in Luke 11, 11. He says,
if a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, would
that loving father give this son who is in need, would he
give him a rock? a mouthful of gravel, a bowl
of gravel, or a stone? Or if you ask him a fish, will
he for a fish instead give him something that would hurt him,
a snake, a serpent? Or if he shall ask for an egg,
will he offer him a scorpion, something that would do him damage,
do him harm? Well, the obvious answer is,
if he's a loving father, he's going to take care of his loving
son. Verse 13, if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts
unto your children, and don't you parents want the best for
your children? Sure you do. How much more shall
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
Him? A loving father would not withhold
from his child that he loves, that which he is in need of. He would give him bread. He would
give him fish. He would give him an egg. He
would give him those things that the child is in need of. If you
then, being evil..." Now this is the Lord talking about us,
being evil. What was true in Noah's day is
true in our day. God saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth, that every imagination of the thoughts,
the purpose, the desire of the heart was only evil continually
every day. That's us. Evil. Evil. If you being evil know how to
give good gifts unto your children, how much more? How much more? shall your heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him." Now turn to Romans
chapter 5. I love that phrase, and you might
underline those two words, or those three words, how much more? How much more? Look at Romans 5. Those words and that phrase is
found oftentimes In the epistles, Romans chapter 5, look at verse
6. For when we were yet without
strength and due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good
man some would even dare to die. But God committed His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us much
more than being now justified by His blood. We shall be saved
from wrath through Him, For if, when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled,
we shall be saved by His life." Now stay there in the book of
Romans chapter 5 and look down to verse 20. Romans 5 verse 20,
"...moreover the law entered that the offense might abound,
but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." Verse
21, "...that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace
reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord." Someone I met in the store a week or two ago, and
I struck up a conversation with him, and he challenged me in
the word of God. He said, show me where it says,
sovereign grace. Right there it is. You read it
right there. that as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign." Right there it is. Sovereign
grace. He will have mercy on whom He
will have mercy. Anybody ever ask you that question?
Right there it is. Grace does reign through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, look back to Luke
11. And let me give you this in closing. If you then, 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? Now, what is this about? Right
here. This giving of the Holy Spirit
is the power of God in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving
the sinner grace, forgiveness of all sin, all spiritual blessings
in Christ. This includes everything that
we need in salvation. You see, he that hath the Son
hath life. Now, what is the chief office
of God the Holy Spirit? What is the chief office of God
the Holy Spirit? God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit, these three are one. What is the chief office
of God the Holy Spirit? We'll read it in John chapter
16. It's to take the things of Christ and reveal them unto us. What do we need? We need the
revelation of Christ by the power of God the Holy Spirit right
in here. Right in here. In us. Revealing Christ in us. It is God the Holy Spirit who
gives the dead sinner life in Christ. You had the quickened
who were dead. By the one Spirit are we all
baptized into the one body. It is God the Holy Spirit who
gives us faith in Christ. It is a gift of God for the fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness,
temperance, faith, these things. You see, it is God the Holy Spirit
that speaks peace to our heart. It is God the Holy Spirit that
comforts our heart. It is God the Holy Spirit that
speaks pardon to our heart and takes the things of Christ and
reveals them unto us. He is called, remember the Lord
said, it's necessary that I go away. If I go not away, the Holy
Spirit will not come. And when He has come, He will
do what? He will convict us of our sin
and He will comfort us. with saving mercy in the Lord
Jesus Christ. It is God the Holy Spirit that
seals us and keeps us unto the day of redemption. We read in
Ephesians 1, in whom you've also trusted after you heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after
that you believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit. God gives
the Holy Spirit to whom He will. Notice. How much more shall your
Heavenly Father give you the Holy Spirit? Now we don't earn
it, we don't merit it, do we? God the Holy Spirit is the gift
of God Almighty to the heart of a sinner by His grace alone. Now may the Lord be pleased to
teach us. I want to pray like that, don't
you? I want to pray like that. Lord, and let's all say this
in our heart, Lord, teach us to pray. Teach us to pray. To
call upon the Lord always, only, and to keep seeking, keep calling,
keep asking, keep coming, keep believing, keep knocking. Believers
begin the spiritual journey by praying unto the Lord, and believers
shall die in faith, praying unto the Lord, calling upon His name,
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord." Someone said, one preacher, old preacher of the
past said, prayer is a sure sign of life in the heart of the believer. It's a sure sign of life in the
heart of the believer. I'm reminded of this, and let
me give you this in closing. Find the book of Acts. You remember
the story of Saul of Tarsus, the one who hated the Lord Jesus
Christ, hated the gospel, Acts chapter 9. And when he met the
Lord Jesus Christ, falling down and trembling before the Lord,
saying, Lord, verse 6, what would you have me to do? And he said
to him, Arise, and go into a city, it shall be told thee what you
must do. And the man which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing
a voice, but seeing no man. and Saul arose from the earth.
And when his eyes were opened, he saw no man, but they led him
by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was there three
days without sight, neither did he eat or drink. And there was
a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him said
the Lord in a vision, Ananias, he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said to him, Arise,
and go into a street which is called Straight, and inquire
in the house of one Judas, For one called Saul of Tarsus,
behold, he..." Doing what? He's praying. He's praying. Once he was persecuting the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ. As it says there, he was breathing
out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the
Lord. Now, you inquire for one in the house of one called Saul
of Tarsus, behold, he's praying now what's happened. God, the
Holy Spirit, has quickened him, raised him from the dead, and
given him faith in Christ. He hath seen a vision, verse
12, a man named Ananias coming in, putting his hand on him,
that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord,
I have heard many things of this man, how much evil he had done
to the saints at Jerusalem. And here he hath authority from
the chief priest to bind all that call upon thy name. But
the Lord said unto him, Ananias, go thy way, for he is a chosen
vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and the
kings and the children of Israel, and I will show him how great
things he must suffer for my name's sake." What was Saul of
Tarsus doing? Once a persecutor, a hater, now
he's praying, and then you read on, and he starts preaching the
gospel. He starts lifting up the name
of Christ and preaching the one whom he at one time had persecuted.