Bibles today to Matthew chapter
7. We're going to look at a few
verses this morning in our Lord's Sermon, which is referred to
as the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew chapter 7, verses 7 through 11. 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 to him that knocketh it shall
be opened. For what man is there of you
whom if his son asks bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he
asks 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 Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that
ask him? I'm going to use three P's, three
words which begin with the letter P for my outline in speaking
to us this morning from these verses. I've often used three
P's, three words which begin with the letter P in explaining
the verse. If you turn back to Matthew 1,
just a few pages, Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21, These are the
words of the angel to Joseph concerning the birth of Mary's
son. And she, that is Mary, shall
bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. You notice
each letter is capitalized, which tells us that this is Jehovah,
I am, Jesus, Savior. For he shall save his people
from their sins. He shall save his people. They were already his people
when he came into this world. He had a people given unto him
from before the foundation of the world in a covenant, an everlasting
covenant of grace. And he came into this world to
save his people from their sins, and I use those three letters,
P. First of all, when a person is
regenerated, that is, born again, then they believe, they trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ, they repent of their sins, and they
are forgiven their sins. The penalty of their sins, which
is eternal death, That's the penalty of your sin. And unless your sins are forgiven,
and there's only one way that sin is forgiven, and that is
through the person and work of Jesus Christ through his blood,
washing away your sins, then you will suffer the penalty of
your sins, eternal death in hell. That's the penalty. But when
a person is granted faith to believe in Christ, he came to
save his people from their sins, from the penalty of sin. But
the second P is the power of sin. He gives his people a new
nature in that new birth, a new nature, and God the Holy Spirit
comes to indwell us, and he gives us power. to live for him and
to put away sin in our life. Now, sin is not eradicated in
a believer's life. We know that. John says, if we
say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not
in us. But yet he gives us power to
live. above sin. And then the last
P is the presence of sin. The presence of sin. And that's
what we look forward to. Oh, when he comes, either in
death or he comes a second time to take his people home, he will
take us to those mansions that he has prepared. And in that
place, sin cannot enter, save from the presence of sin. Don't you look forward to that
if you're one of God's children. Oh, that place and that day when
we will never, ever again be molested with sin. Never see
what sin has brought into this world. All the things that we
don't even like to think about, sickness and deformity and death,
separation, all those things that we go through in this life,
right? All here because of sin. But
none of those things will be in that place. Why? Because sin
will not be there. He saves his people as he saved
you. You know, that's the most important
question that you'll ever be asked. Has he saved you? If he were to come right now,
or if he were to call you away in death, have you been saved
from the penalty of sin? There's only one Savior. There's
only one door into the ark. Jesus Christ said, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall go in and out and find life, peace. I came that they
might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. Well, now let's go back to our
text. I want to use the page again. But this time, promises, petitions, provisions. Promises, petitions, and provisions. 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. First, promises. In this book,
in the Bible, in the word of God, God has given his people
many promises. Now, in 2 Peter, the apostle
Peter said this, To those he's writing to, he defines them. The ones he's writing his letter
to are those who have obtained like precious faith. In other
words, every believer, if you're here this morning, a child of
God, you have obtained faith. God gave it to you. Faith is
a gift. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Have you obtained like, just
like the apostles, just like the faith they had to be saved,
have you obtained like precious faith? Because faith is so important. So important, it's the instrumental
cause of our salvation. No one is saved apart from believing
in Christ, trusting in Christ. Faith has been defined as an
empty hand. A beggar is sitting by the wayside
and he holds out his hand and you give him something. He doesn't contribute anything. That's the way salvation is,
it's a gift. It's a gift of God, but the empty
hand receives that gift. That's faith, faith, like precious
faith. But to those who have obtained
like precious faith, he has given us, Peter says, exceeding great
and precious promises. Those who have precious faith,
they have precious promises. Now, the precious promises that
the Apostle Peter is speaking of there especially refer to
the new and everlasting covenant of grace. Think of how great
and precious these promises are in that covenant of grace. Let
me mention three. The first promise I would mention
is God promises to be our God. You say, well, isn't he everyone's
God? He's everyone's creator. Absolutely. But there's only one way that
he becomes a person's God, and that is through his son, through
Jesus Christ. You remember, he said, I ascend
unto my father and your father, unto my God and your God. He promises to be our God. And if God be for us, who can
be against us? What a precious promise is that. I will be their God and they
shall be my people. A second promise in that covenant
I would mention is I will give them a new heart also and a new
spirit will I put within them. He does a work of grace in the
heart. You know, ever since I can remember,
I've heard this illustration, but it's a good one, I suppose. Let me use it again. You can
take a hog. Everyone knows what a hog
is. That's one of the animals that
God created that loves mud. They have no sweat glands. They
love to get in the mud. and they love to wallow in the
mud. And you could take one and you
can clean him up, wash him down, sprinkle him with perfume and
put a bow in his tail, but you turn him loose and he'll go right
back to the hog pen. Why? Because that's his nature.
Because that's what he loves. God promises his people a new
heart. a new heart, to love him. He
circumcises the heart, that's the new birth. Gives us a new
nature to love, love things we didn't used to love. There may
be some of you here today and you're thinking, I can't wait
until this is over. I just can't wait to get out
those doors and go do what I love to do, whatever it is. But there's
some people here today who love to be here, who love to sing
God's praises. Oh, when we sing that hymn, How
Great Thou Art, when we think about God, His
Son, not sparing His only begotten Son, but sent Him to die, to
take away my sins, that moves the heart of a child of God.
to hear the word of God read and explained or taught. Why? The hog, if you wash him
and clean him up, he goes right back there because that's his
nature. If somehow, this is the illustration, if somehow you
could do a heart transplant, give him the heart of a lamb,
a lamb, he wouldn't go back to that mud. Why? Because that's
not his nature, not the nature of a lamb, no. God said in that new covenant,
a new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put
within you. And the third promise, I will
be merciful to their unrighteousness. And their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. And for many of God's children,
what you can't forget, sins that you committed against God, that
I committed against God, and every once in a while they come
up, don't they? You can't forget them. God has. God has. you'll never remember
them again. What a promise is that? What
a promise is that? Nothing can compare to those
promises, but I want to remind us this morning of some promises
that we have in the word of God. And I say, remind us of these
promises. We'll look at several of them.
If you want to turn, that's fine. If you don't, just write down
the scripture and maybe you can look later. But I want you to
go with me first to Deuteronomy chapter 33 and verse 25. These are in the blessings that
Moses, before he left this world, pronounced upon the children
of Israel. Verse 25, thy shoes shall be
iron and brass, and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. Now,
when you think about that, shoes made of iron and brass can only
mean one thing. You're walking on a rough road.
You're walking on a rough road. And isn't that what the Apostle
Paul taught the early believers? That we must, through much tribulation,
enter into the kingdom of God. But the promise is, as thy days
shall demand, so shall thy strength be. as thy days shall demand, so
shall thy strength be. You say, well preacher, that
promise was given to the nation of Israel. Yes, but I believe,
like Charles Spurgeon, in a message he preached from Hebrews 13 and
verse five one time said, when God opens up a well, a water
well, for one of his children, Unless we are specifically told
we can't drink of that well, it's for us as well. And this
is a promise that is to you and is to me today, as days shall
demand. We don't know what our days are
going to demand. When we get up in the morning,
we don't have a clue as to, we think everything's just going
to be ordinary and go on like it did yesterday and 100 days
before, but we don't know that. But we know this, as our days
shall demand, so shall thy strength be. That's a promise that I love. Then look over just a page into
the first chapter of Joshua. In Joshua chapter one in verse
nine, have not I commanded thee, be strong and of a good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou
dismayed. For the Lord thy God is with
thee, whithersoever thou goest. Again, someone might say, well,
preacher, that promise there is to Joshua. Yes, but look at
the promise. He promises Joshua, have not
I commanded thee? Hasn't he commanded you? Hasn't
he given us some commandments? He told his disciples, a new
commandment I give unto you, that you love one another. And
yes, as he promised to be with Joshua, hasn't he promised to
be with us? In fact, he said, unto the end
of the ages. I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. That's a promise. As a day shall
demand, so shall thy strength be. Here's a promise. Be not
afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with
thee, withersoever thou goest. All right, let's go a little
further in the scripture. Let's look into the book of Psalms. And there's, we could go through
the whole Old Testament probably and find a promise that would
be special to us in every book. Well, let's look here in Psalm
37. In verse 3, trust in the Lord and
do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land
and barely Thou shalt be fed. You say, well, you know, I've
only got a few dollars saved up and if I lost my job and you
know, you can think of all these things that might happen, but
look at the promise. Trust in the Lord and do good.
So shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed. Have any of us ever missed a
meal? Have we? I mean, maybe on purpose. Maybe on purpose we have, but
think of this. Some of us have lived in this
world for a long time. Have we ever missed a meal? Trust in the Lord and do good.
That's what the promise is. So shalt thou dwell in the land
and verily thou shalt be fed. And look down in that same Psalm
to verse 25 where David gives his testimony. I have been young and now am
old. I can say that. I was young one
time, but now I'm old, and I'm not complaining about that. The
Lord's blessed me in so many different ways, but let me get
back to the text. I have been young and now I'm
old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken. Now, who
are the righteous? We know who the wicked are. We
know who the wicked are. The wicked is every person who
does not have the righteousness of God. The only way any person
is righteous, declared righteous just before God, is to have the
righteousness of Christ imputed to us. That's the only way anyone
is righteous. Are you righteous today? Before
God Almighty in the throne room of God, are you just? Can anyone bring an accusation
against you before God? Not if you know Christ. No. He took care of all that, didn't
he? He sure did. David said, I've been young and
now I'm old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his
seed begging bread. Never have seen that. What a
promise. What a promise here. Those of
you who are young, young families, I know you take seriously your
responsibility, but trust in the Lord. Look to Him. He's not going to forsake you.
That's His promise. Look at another one in Lamentation
over here. No, I'm sorry. Let's go to Isaiah
first. In Isaiah, and this is one some
of you will recognize. especially because you've told
me over the years it's such a blessing to you. Some of you have said
that's my favorite passage of scripture, Isaiah 43. But now saith the Lord that created
thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for
I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. When thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers,
they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. That's God's promise. That's
his promise to Jacob. Jacob. Jacob have I loved, Esau
have I hated, I have redeemed thee. This is a promise to his
Jacobs, to his redeemed children of God. And one other in the
Old Testament, look with me to Lamentations. Jeremiah and then
Lamentations, this small book between Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Chapter 3. And let me just say
this before we read the verse, the promise here in Lamentations.
Humanly speaking, nothing, I can't imagine how any situation could
have been worse for Jerusalem when Jeremiah wrote the Lamentations. I mean, Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonians,
they had destroyed that city, carried most of the people off
in captivity. There was nothing left for them,
nothing. But look here in chapter three,
in verse 22. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed. Because his compassions fail
not. That's a promise. His compassions
fail not. They are new. Notice the next
verse. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul. Therefore will I hope in him. My expectation, in other words,
is in him, in God. That's one promise we don't think
of that much, but it's a great promise. And then let's look
over in the New Testament, and there's many in the New Testament
you know of, but let's just turn here to Philippians chapter four. Philippians chapter four and
verse 19. But my God shall supply all your
need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. All your need. All your need. Didn't say all your wants, but
all your need. All that you have need of. We
have his promise that he will supply according, notice that
according to the riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now, how do
you measure that? How do you put any estimation,
any value on the riches of Christ Jesus? You can't. You can't. God has a storehouse. I like what John Bunyan said,
wrote one time. He said, God has bags of mercies
never opened up yet. I like that, don't you? If you're
seeking mercy today, God has so much mercy. He's got bags
of mercy never opens yet. Oh, he's so faithful and has
so much and what promises he has given us. For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall
they call upon him in whom they have not heard and how shall
they hear without a preacher? You hear the gospel. You say,
well, I don't know if I'm saved or I'm not saved. I'm not sure.
Have you asked him to save you? Have you? His promise is whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Call upon
him. That's what our text here tells
us this morning. Our Lord said, ask. Oh, won't
you ask? Won't you ask? You have a soul. You're going to spend eternity
either in heaven or hell. Won't you ask? Won't you ask
the Savior? Ask and it shall be given you.
Seek. You shall find me when you seek
for me with all your heart. Seek the Lord while he may be
found. Call upon him while he is near. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. Do you remember, I mentioned
John Bunyan just now. Do you remember in Pilgrim's
Progress, Pilgrim, like most Pilgrims, Sometimes we take an
easy road. We jump over the fence or we
get off the straight and narrow trail, so to speak, and he ended
up in a dungeon. He ended up in the castle of
giant despair. And he couldn't get out until
he remembered. I've got a key. I've got a key
in my pocket, a promise. I've got a promise here that
God's given me to unlock the door and go free, to get out
of Doubting Castle. Oh, the promises of God. Now
let me take just a few, less time, let me put it that way,
on the provisions, or on the petitions rather. God has given
us these precious promises. And now, as a believer, as a
child of God, it is our responsibility to appropriate these promises
and turn them into petitions. And the best praying, the best
praying always is when you can take a promise. God, here's your
word. This is what you said. You told
me this. You tell God what he's told you. Now, Lord, do it. One of the best examples, of
course, is Jacob, remember. Let me turn back to this scripture,
Genesis chapter 32. This is one of the best examples
in the word of God about praying and using God's promises. Genesis
chapter 32. He's on his way back to Canaan. He's lived for, what, 14 years
or more over in land and accumulated four wives and 12 children, 12
sons. And on his way back, someone
came to him and said, your brother Esau's on his way with 400 men. And they're armed. And the last
word he had had from Esau, I'm gonna kill him. As soon as our
father Isaac is dead, I'm going to kill my brother Jacob. He's
deceived me. He's tricked me. Well, look here
in Genesis 32 and verse 9. And Jacob said, O God of my father
Abraham and God of my father Isaac, The Lord, now notice this,
the Lord which said unto me, return unto thy country and to
thy kindred and I will deal well with thee. Lord, I'm not worthy
of the least of all the blessings and of all the truth which thou
hast showed unto thy servants. For with my staff I passed over
this Jordan and now I have become Two bands, deliver me, I pray
thee, from the hand of my father, from the hand of Esau, for I
fear him, lest he will come and smite me and the mother with
the children, and thou saidest, I will surely do thee good and
make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered
for multitude. Lord, thou saidest, you told
me to come back here. Now here I am. Here I am. I'm just doing what you told
me to do. He took God's word and rehearsed God's word unto
the Lord in his prayer. Arthur Pink has written that
whatever may be our case, there's something in the word exactly
suited thereto. And it is our privilege to lay
hold of the same and plead it before God. In other words, whatever
your situation is, and in a group like this, we've all got different
situations, different needs, different problems, all that.
There's something, according to Arthur Pink, there's something
here in the word of God, there's some promise that fits exactly. whatever your need is. And he
gives many examples, but one example he gives is this. Are we perplexed to our path,
to the way the Lord would have us to go? Are we perplexed to
our path and in urgent need of divine guidance? Are we? Here's the promise. If any of
you lack wisdom, Let him ask of God that giveth to all men
liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. Now I have another example. I know I may take a little bit
longer this morning, not much, but I want you to see this. I
want you to go back to Ezekiel. This is so important. Ezekiel chapter 36. The verse I want us to see is verse
37, but I would just remind us that before this verse, God is
promising untold blessings. If you look, beginning with verse
33, thus saith the Lord God, in the day that I shall have
cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell
in the cities, and then the waste shall be builded, and the desolate
land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight
of all that pass by. And they shall say, this land
that was desolate has become like the Garden of Eden. and
the waste and the desolate and ruined cities are become fenced
and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left
round about you shall know that I, the Lord, build the ruined
places, plant that was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it,
and I will do it. Now notice, thus saith the Lord
God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel. I will yet, yet I will be for
this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them. God promises, but yet he tells
us that he would be inquired of. That is, we would ask for
what he has promised. And Dr. John Gill on that verse
said, and I quote, God expects that his people will apply to
him for it. It is our duty to put the Lord
in mind of his promises, to plead them with him and pray unto him
for the fulfillment of them. He's given us the promises. And
he demands of us that we plead these promises to receive, to
receive them. Well, the provisions. I'll just
tell you, God provides. He provides what he promises
he'll give, if you'll ask. And I'll close. A message with
these two scriptures. Luke 18 and verse 1, we read,
the Lord said that men ought always to pray and not to faint. Men ought always to pray. He
spoke this parable to this end, and it was a parable of the unjust
judge who would not hear that woman's petition. She was in
the right. But he would not hear, he would
not answer her. The scripture says the Lord spoke
this parable to this end, that man ought always to pray and
not to faint. Ask, ask and it shall be given. Seek and you shall find. Knock
and it shall be opened unto you. The last verse in Galatians chapter
six and verse nine. Let us, that's all of us, isn't
it? All of God's people. Let us not
be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we
faint not. Let's not grow weary in well-doing,
for in due season God's season, God's time, we shall reap if
we faint not. May the Lord bless these words
and thoughts to all of us here today.