Let's read Scripture together.
This is the text from which the sermon will be based tonight.
! Matthew 7-12.
We're working our way through the Sermon on the Mount.
! Just a few weeks left.
And Jesus says this in Matthew 7-12.
Ask, and it will be given to you.
Seek, and you will find.
Knock, and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives.
And the one who seeks, finds.
And to the one who knocks, it will be opened.
Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father, who is in heaven, give good gifts, good things to those who ask him?
So, whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.
For this is the law and the prophets.
This is God's Word to us tonight.
My name is Chris.
It's my privilege to open God's Word for us tonight.
Before I do that, let's pray together that God would enlighten our minds, open up to us,
open our minds, open our ears, open our hearts to receive the truth of his Word.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity we have to come before you.
We ask, Lord, that you would open our eyes as we read your Scripture,
that you'd open our ears so we can hear.
Lord, open our hearts so that these words will penetrate deep into us, change us,
so that we can live lives worthy of kingdom citizens.
We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So, we've been working through the Sermon on the Mount,
and the Sermon on the Mount is a teaching from Jesus that tells us what it means to live like citizens of the kingdom of heaven.
The section that we're in, I think we've just finished the section with the reading that Corey read for us today,
is all about the law and the prophets, the Old Testament, the Bible as it was in Jesus' day.
And it shaped the religious, moral, civil lives of all the people who were listening to him.
In the section that we're in, I think it begins in chapter 5, verse 17,
because in chapter 5, verse 17, Jesus says,
Do not think that I've come to abolish the law and the prophets.
I've not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
So, Jesus is telling the people who are listening that he's not come to do away with the laws that they had learned until this point,
but he's coming to complete them.
He's coming to bring them to fulfillment.
And from that point, until where we read to today,
Jesus has been explaining to us what it means not just to obey laws,
like we might tick boxes on a form,
but what it means for them to enter into our hearts,
for them to penetrate us,
really change us.
And not just a list of rules,
but a way of living,
a way of being before God.
Because the way that we live
really matters.
It matters to us.
It matters to the people we live with,
the people we live around.
And it matters to God.
We stop reading at verse 12.
And Jesus has again come round to the law and the prophets.
And this time,
he gives us a summary
of what it all means.
This is it.
According to Jesus,
the law and the prophets,
all the Old Testament writings boil down
to this.
Do to other people
what you would have them do to you.
We don't think that this teaching's
entirely unique to Jesus.
So, scholars think that maybe 3,000 years
before Jesus came into the world,
people were living by a maxim
that was something like this.
Very similar.
We call it the golden rule now.
That's what it might be titled in your Bible.
And before Jesus came,
it existed as something like,
don't do to other people
what you wouldn't want them to do to you.
But rather than telling us what not to do,
Jesus is telling us what to do.
He says,
so whatever you wish that others would do to you,
do to them,
for this is the law and the prophets.
And so why is that significant?
Why does that matter?
Well, I think it's significant
because it moves our mindset
from just avoiding harm
to actively looking
to do good to people.
But to be able to do that,
to be able to live
like kingdom citizens,
we need to be transformed
into kingdom people.
people.
Because we can't do that by ourselves.
And so the rest of the passage
that we read,
verses 7 to 11,
offer us a way
of becoming kingdom people.
If you want to live
like a person
of the kingdom of God,
you have to come to God
and you have to ask Him
to change you.
You have to come to God
and say to Him,
God, I want to be different.
I read Your Word.
I see the truth.
This is the kind of person
that I want to be.
This is how I want to live.
And I can't do it by myself.
Lord, don't leave me
the way that I am.
So verses 7 to 11
are about prayer.
And Jesus has already spoken
quite a bit about prayer.
in the Sermon on the Mount.
He's warned us
against hypocritical prayer.
So standing in the spotlight,
making sure everyone sees us
so that everyone can see
how prayerful,
how holy we are.
He's warned us against
long prayers
or repetitious prayers
that think that we'll be heard
because we say lots of words.
And then in chapter 6,
as we went through,
I say we,
I wasn't here,
but you guys did,
went through as a congregation
the Lord's Prayer,
where he teaches us.
He gives us a template
for how to approach God
in our prayer life.
So,
tonight,
this is what Jesus tells us
to do
with kingdom prayer.
There's three things.
things.
And the first
is this.
Jesus is calling you,
even tonight,
to pray like your life
depends on it.
In English,
if we take the words
ask,
seek,
not,
it makes this lovely little
three-letter acronym,
ask,
which is really easy to remember
and quite handy
to keep in your pocket.
But I think
the truth is
that a simple ask
doesn't do justice
to the emphasis
that Jesus places
on the words
that he uses here.
Matthew records
for us here
words that Jesus uses
and he uses
a rhetorical device.
We call it
the power of three.
So,
friends,
Romans,
countrymen,
I came,
we came,
we saw,
we conquered.
And he's repeating
it three times
to emphasize
just how important
it is to us.
This isn't a nonchalant ask,
like asking somebody
to pass you the salt
at the dinner table.
This is something
much more intentional,
much more deliberate,
much more intense.
Even the words
that Jesus uses
increase in intensity
if you think about them.
Because first of all,
he says ask,
which is
opening your mouth
to the person
before you.
Very simple.
But the next step
is to seek,
which at the very least
involves lifting your head
and scanning about.
And thirdly,
he says to knock,
which adds
a physical element.
You can't knock
without moving your body.
So,
Jesus is increasing
the emphasis,
the intensity
of the words
as he speaks.
And to add
to that as well,
in the original language,
ask,
seek,
knock
carries the sense
of ongoing action.
So,
it's not a one-time thing.
We could take
ask,
seek,
knock
to mean something like
knock and keep on knocking.
Ask and keep on asking.
Seek and keep on seeking.
Isn't that
a one-and-done,
one-time word
with the Lord
for something?
And it isn't a
I know he's there
when I need him
approach to prayer.
What we're told here
is to come to God
with a burning desire
to be heard.
And to come
again
and again
over
and over
and over.
Like a five-year-old
might come to you
because they want a bunny.
Maybe that's a personal
anecdote.
But we're so bad
at asking,
at coming to God
in this way.
Because for us,
I think,
admitting
that there's something
that we need
that we can't fix
by ourselves
takes,
our pride
takes a dent.
And more than that,
I think
for a lot of the time,
we can question
whether we think
prayer works.
Is prayer
actually
that important
after all?
Sometimes our pride
makes us think
we don't have weaknesses.
Sometimes our pride
stops us from
seeing those weaknesses.
And sometimes
our pride
tells us
that we don't think
prayer means anything
at all.
when it comes
to being
citizens
of God's kingdom,
we need to recognize
deep down
that we're not enough.
We're not enough.
And we can't do this
on our own.
We can't earn
our way
into
this kingdom
no matter
how hard we work.
Look at the things
that Jesus said
it takes
to be a citizen
of the kingdom
of heaven.
Things that we've
thought about already
in the Sermon on the Mind.
And then let's ask
which of us
would not want
to be
a citizen
of that kingdom?
How many of us
would not want
to live in a place
that's populated
with people
who are always good?
Always in control
of their anger?
Are non-judgmental?
People
always seeking
peace?
People who are
committed,
always loyal,
who are always
truthful,
continually generous?
That's not a list
of Christian desires.
This is what
everybody wants
to see.
This is the kind
of Scotland,
the Edinburgh
that we all
want to live in.
But if we're
honest with
ourselves,
which one of us
can manage
to live out
one of these
attributes perfectly
on our own,
let alone all of them?
If we hang around,
sometimes when you
apply for citizenship
of a country
or you have to
pass a language test,
so I think that
if we all hung around
for church long enough,
we could learn
the language
of this kingdom.
We could put
phrases together
that make it sound
like we belong here.
But to be a citizen
of God's kingdom,
learning the language,
saying the words,
paying lip service
is not enough.
It has to be
who we are.
It has to be
pressed down
inside of us,
imprinted
onto our hearts.
So which one of us
thinks that we can
measure up on our own?
Which one of us
even thinks,
well,
I could give it a go?
because right back
at the start
of Jesus'
sermon on the mount,
he says that the people
who will inherit
the kingdom
are the poor
in spirit.
Poor in spirit
has got nothing
to do with your
bank balance,
but it's about
your posture
towards God.
It's about
understanding
that there's
nothing you have
that you can
offer to God
in exchange
for your passport
into his kingdom.
Not your time,
not your savings,
not your talents,
not your best effort.
It's recognizing
that whatever
you have materially,
whatever gifts
God has given
to you
as a person,
you're spiritually
destitute.
There's nothing
you can do
to lift yourself
up
from your
spiritual poverty
community.
If you think
that you could
work your way
into the kingdom,
have a go
at being good
enough to get in,
you've already
fallen at the
first hurdle.
This is why
Jesus is so
insistent
that his followers
pray.
That's why
he repeats it,
increases in
intensity,
and insists on
constantly coming
to God in prayer
again and again
and again,
asking,
seeking,
knock,
knocking on
heaven's door.
Passionate,
consistent,
utter reliance
on God
to shape us
into the kind
of people
who can live
in his kingdom.
Prayer,
as Jesus outlines
it for us here,
is less a thing
we do
and more the way
that we live.
Jesus is teaching
that we're to pray
as though our life
depends on it
because our life
does depend
on God
entirely.
We're creatures
of absolute
dependence
on our
absolute
God.
Prayer is
acting like it.
There's a
theologian,
a Puritan theologian
called Richard Baxter
and he said
that prayer
is the breath
of the new
creature.
A new creature,
somebody changed
by Jesus.
Prayer isn't
a tool
that you keep
up your sleeve
for when you
need it.
It's what
sustains a Christian
moment to
moment.
It's vital,
so vital
for Christians,
Baxter says,
that to be
without prayer
is to be
without breath.
Do you pray
to God
like your life
depends on it?
Take a moment
to think about
the state
of your prayer
life today,
right now.
Is prayer
the thing
that you first
think of
when you open
your eyes?
Is prayer
the thing
that you're
most committed
to as you
go about
your day?
Or has
your prayer
life become
like it's
automated?
What do you
need to change?
What are the
things when you
go home tonight
that you can
change to
make your
prayer life
more fruitful?
How can you
pray like
your life
depends on
it?
Okay,
secondly,
pray to
the life
of Christ
pulsates
in your
heart.
We've spoken
about the
context of
this passage
being really
important,
and context
is really
important for
every passage,
because the
danger is if
we take
a statement
like ask
and it will
be given
you,
and we
copy and
paste it
and stick
it on a
t-shirt or
stick it on
a mug,
when we
look at it
by itself,
we can
think,
well,
God says
that all
I have to
do is ask
for something,
and then
he'll give
me anything
that I
want.
Some people
do think
like this,
we know
that they
do,
people call
it power
prayers,
or name
it and
claim it
praying,
you say
what you
want,
God will
provide it,
but it's
dangerous,
because it
reduces the
gospel down
to being
about our
health and
our wealth,
we think,
God,
I'm going
to need
a pay
rise,
God,
I'm going
to need
a guarantee
that I'm
not going
to get
lower than
a C
in my
Hebrew
exam,
God,
I want
at least
two
grandchildren
by the
time I'm
60,
God,
I know
you can
do this,
oh yeah,
God is
a giver
of all
good gifts,
everything
that we
have is
from God,
and God
can do
these
things,
but the
problem
with name
it and
claim it
power
prayers
is that
they treat
God like
some sort
of genie
who's on
hand to
fulfill our
desires,
and what
that reveals
in the
heart of
a person
is that
they want
the things
that God
can give
them and
not God
himself.
I think
it also
assumes
that we
think that
we know
better
what we
need
than
God
does,
and a
God
who
doesn't
know
more
than
you
is
not
a
God
that
you
want
to
trust
in.
The
epistle
of
James
is a
letter
that was
written
by one
of
Jesus'
followers,
probably
Jesus'
half-brother,
so likelihood
he heard
Jesus
saying,
if not
these exact
words,
things very
like them,
and near
the beginning
of his
letter,
he uses
language really
similar to
our ask
and it
will be
given
you,
and James
says that
the thing
that we're
to ask
for is
wisdom,
and wisdom
is required
if we're
going to
follow the
path of
a citizen,
a kingdom
citizen.
We need to
know how
to discern
between being
judgmental
and naive,
and we know
that wisdom
is a good
thing for us
to pray for.
King Solomon,
hundreds of
years before
Jesus,
he had a
dream one
night,
and God
came to
him and
said,
ask me
for whatever
you want
and I'll
give it
to you.
And the
thing that
Solomon
asked for
was an
understanding
mind to
discern between
good and
evil.
Solomon asked
for wisdom,
and God was
pleased that
Solomon asked
for wisdom,
and so he
answered his
prayer and
he gave him
wisdom.
He made him
the wisest
man that's
ever lived.
Even today,
even people who
don't think the
Bible is true
still use Solomon
as a cultural
reference for
what it means
to be really
wise.
But despite
a promising
start,
despite all
this wisdom,
Solomon fell
into sin,
he turned
to idols,
and he looked
to things that
weren't God
to satisfy
him.
If the
wisest man
who's ever
lived fell
away from
God, how
much more
clear can
it be that
we need to
be constantly,
persistently
pursuing after
God in
prayer?
Solomon
shows us
that wisdom
is good,
to ask for
wisdom is
good, but
discernment
alone isn't
enough.
There's a
parallel passage
to this
passage in
Luke chapter
11.
And there we
can read the
same passage,
it's almost
word for
word.
Ask and it
will be given
to you,
seek and you
will find,
knock and
the door will
be opened
for you.
For everyone
who asks
receives,
and the one
who seeks
finds, and
to the one
who knocks,
the door
will be
opened.
But at
the end of
the Luke
account,
Luke tells
us the
what,
the good
thing that
God will
give to
his children
who ask.
He says,
if you
then,
although you're
evil, know
how to give
good gifts
to your
children,
how much
more will
the heavenly
father give
the Holy
Spirit to
those who
ask him?
Be asking,
seeking,
knocking,
because God
is ready and
waiting to
gift you the
Holy Spirit.
What does
that mean?
Well, it's
the Holy
Spirit,
the third
person of
the Godhead,
who enters
into believers'
hearts when
they put their
trust in
Jesus.
And the
Holy Spirit
never leaves.
It's a
mark of your
citizenship of
the kingdom of
heaven,
irrevocable
and secure.
And he
dwells in
believers,
working in
them, changing
their hearts,
renewing
them, shaping
them more
and more
into the
image of
Jesus.
One
theologian
describes what
the Holy
Spirit does
like this.
The work
of the Holy
Spirit is
to make
the life
of Christ
pulsate in
the life of
the believer
so that we
live not,
but Christ
lives in
us.
We're to
pray so
diligently for
the Holy
Spirit that
he would
increase in
our lives,
that he
would fill
us up with
the good
things of
God so
that we
can be
made to
live more
and more
like Jesus
did.
So that
good things,
love, joy,
peace,
forbearance,
kindness,
goodness,
faithfulness,
gentleness,
and self-control
come pouring
out of us.
I wonder if
we are seeing
evidence of the
Holy Spirit
working in
our lives.
Is your
heart pulsating
with Christ
likeness?
Is it
evident to
the people
around you?
Do you
get angry
way less
than you
might once
have?
Do people
see you
becoming more
and more
humble?
Do you
exude joy in
your life,
thankful for
the things
that God's
given you
rather than
always being
worried about
the next
thing that
you want
to get?
Those are
all signs
that the
Holy Spirit's
working in
you.
This is
what we
are to
pray for
so
unwaveringly
and
impassionately
because the
way to be
shaped into
a citizen
of the
kingdom of
heaven is
by imitating
the life of
the king.
And to
do that,
we need
help.
And if you
are producing
this kind of
fruit in your
life, if you
are noticing
that you have
changed, if
people around
you are, what
a witness that
is to the
power of
God and
what a
witness to
the power
of prayer.
We so
often look for
miraculous
cures to
terminal illnesses
or for
survivors of
horrific accidents
as evidence
that God's
working in
the world.
But the
slow, steady
shaping of
his people
to be more
like his
son is
clear evidence
of the
power God
offers to
those who
ask for
it.
Thirdly, and
lastly, pray
because God
guarantees the
best answer.
So we said
this passage is
about prayer,
and I think we
can be even
more specific
than that.
I think we
can say that
this passage is
about the
God-given
guarantee
that your
praying life
will be
rewarded.
This whole
passage is
filled with
the assurance
that we
will receive.
Ask and
it will be
given to
you.
Seek and
you will
find.
Knock and
the door
will be
opened.
For
everyone who
asks
receives,
and the
one who
seeks
finds,
and to
the one
who knocks,
it will
be
opened.
These are
statements of
certainty.
And to
emphasize the
point, in
verses 9 and
10, Jesus
uses these
rhetorical
questions that
I think are
deliberately a
bit ridiculous.
He asks
parents, if
your son
asks for
bread, would
you give
him a
stone?
Or if
he asks
for fish,
would you
give him
a serpent?
We know
that not
all parents
are good
parents.
Some
children
suffer
terribly,
and we
pray against
that evil.
But generally
speaking,
parents
intuitively
know how
to give
good things
to their
children.
The
unspoken
answer to
these
rhetorical
questions is,
none of us,
Jesus, we
all know how
to give good
things to
our children.
Jesus
says,
if you
then, being
evil, know
how to give
good gifts
to your
children, how
much more
will your
father who's
in heaven give
good things to
those who
ask him?
Driving
home the
point, Jesus
compares God
the father with
an earthly
parent.
He says,
if you who
struggle to be
filled with love
the way that
you should be,
can still
give good
things to
your children,
how much
more likely
is it that
your perfectly
good, perfectly
merciful, perfectly
holy father
will give good
things to his
children when
they ask?
Giving them
exactly what
they need.
The answer is
infinitely more
likely.
certainty.
God doing
what he says
he's going
to do is
not even a
likelihood, it's
a certainty.
Just like a
good father
always answers,
just like a
good father,
God answers
our prayers by
giving us
exactly what
we need,
not always
what we want.
earlier in
the series,
Ryan quoted
Tim Keller
and Tim Keller
said, God
will give you
what you
would have
asked for
if you
knew everything
he knows.
God does
answer, he
does give
exactly what
you need.
So if you're
sitting in your
seat tonight
and you're
holding back
from pouring
yourself out
to God
in prayer
like this
because you're
afraid that
you'll put
yourself out
there and
your prayer
will go
unanswered,
well you
can lay
that concern
aside completely
because right
now God
is asking
you to
come to
him.
When you
beg and
search and
hammer on
the door of
heaven to
be made
more like
Jesus,
it's more
certain God
will answer
your prayers
than you'll
answer your
next phone
call.
God gives
you his
word.
Maybe you're
not ready
for constant
unwavering
passionate
pursuit of
God because
it sounds like
a lot to
commit to.
And if
that's the
case,
then I'd
invite you to
think about
just for a
moment how
committed
Jesus is to
guaranteeing that
your prayers
will be
answered.
Jesus is so
committed to
making sure your
prayers are
answered that
he died on
the cross for
you to
guarantee it.
Before Jesus
went to the
cross, he was
in a garden
with some
friends.
And three
times he went
to pray to
his father
asking,
seeking,
knocking.
Jesus was
in agony.
He was
praying so
fervently and
his sweat fell
to the ground
like drops of
blood.
And Jesus
prayed to
God, his
good,
merciful
father, and
he said,
is it
possible for
me not to
have to do
this?
Father, is
there any
other way?
But you
know what's
right.
There was no
other way.
God is a
God of
justice.
When Jesus
died on the
cross, he
didn't die for
his sin.
He didn't
have any.
He died to
pay the
justice for
your sins.
So what
you have
now is
access and
answers.
You can
come into
the presence
of almighty
God, not
as a
guilty
prisoner
before a
judge given
a stay of
execution,
but as a
child comes
before a
loving father
who longs to
be pestered
by you,
asking,
seeking,
knocking,
to be made
more and
more like
Jesus,
your older
brother who
sacrificed
himself to
save you.
When you
pray to God
for God,
your prayer
is guaranteed
to be
answered,
because that
prayer of
Jesus that
he prayed in
the garden
went unanswered.
God,
let's pray.
Lord God,
we thank
you for
the opportunity
we have to
pray to you.
We thank
you for the
gift of
prayer.
Teach us,
Lord, to
pray to
you as
we should,
fervently,
diligently,
consistently.
Lord,
make us
people who
breathe in
and pray
out.
we thank
you for
the assurance
we have
that you
will hear
us because
of what
Jesus has
done.
And we
pray in
his name.
Amen.