| Matthew 7:7 Ask, and
it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 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? |
Luke 11:5 And he said
unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at
midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. 9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If ye 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? |
| One of the keys
to prayer is making specific requests. Most of us are guilty of making
general requests like "bless so-and-so", without specifying just how, or in
what areas of life, we would have the Lord bless someone. We may ask
the Lord to be with our President and our nation, without mentioning the
specific needs that the President, as our leader, and we, as a nation, are
facing. When the man in Luke's example came to his friend's home at
night, he didn't just ask for some food, he asked for three loaves of bread.
Had he never asked to begin with, the man's need would never have been met;
had he not been specific in his request, he might not have received what he
needed. Making specific requests isn't for God's benefit, because he already knows, but ours. Part of our relationship with him is expressing our needs to him, and trusting him to meet them. He isn't going to punish us for asking him, by giving us something bad when we need something good. Just as an earthly father who loves his children will respond to their needs when they are expressed, so our heavenly Father will respond to ours. Beyond just filling our physical needs, though, he will fill the greatest need of all in our lives: the indwelling presence of his Holy Spirit. Our only hope of living the kind of obedient life God expects of us, as his children, is through the power of the Spirit. |
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| Matthew 7:12 Therefore
all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to
them: for this is the law and the prophets. 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. |
Luke 13:23 Then said
one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, 24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. |
| This passage
begins with what is commonly called "the Golden Rule", the enlightened self
interest that comes from observing the Law. The command is not that we
should do to others as they do to us, as is often commonly said, but what we
want them to do to us. The emphasis is on external behavior,
rather than on treating others out of the motive of love that springs from
within. Though acting in a loving way, in godly love, certainly
results in obedience to the commandments, as summed up in the Great
Commandments of love, it is possible to meet the external requirements of
the Law simply to have others treat us well. Much of the emphasis of
the Sermon on the Mount is the transition from the existing understanding of
the Law, as an external set of rules, to one that exists within each
believer, written on the fleshly tablets of our hearts There is no automatic pass to Heaven, and it is not passed on from parents to children. The world, in its vanity, assumes that human goodness, as measured by its own standards, is sufficient to gain entrance to whatever version of paradise a religion teaches. The strait, or narrow, gate is Christ himself; without him, no one can come to the Father (John 14:6). Just as there is only one Way, there is only one chance, in this life we're given. Hollywood promotes the myth that, once we die, we may be sent back to set things right, but the Bible says we die only once, then after that, the judgment (Hebrews 9;27). There are no second chances, and there is no reincarnation. One charge that Christians hear is that we are narrow-minded bigots who refuse to acknowledge the validity of other religions. The truth is, we are narrow-minded, because our Lord clearly tells us that the gate and the path we follow are narrow. If we deny the truth of what the Lord teaches, and go along with the world's view, we are in effect denying our Lord himself. The world can't abide the truth of the Gospel,, which it views as foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18). The Gospel way will never win a popularity contest, and we should not be concerned that this is so. |
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| Matthew 7:15
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. |
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| Christ uses two images here to refer to false prophets, those who come claiming to be from God but who teach lies and deceit. The most familiar one is that of the wolf coming in sheep's clothing, someone who puts on a veneer of holiness, but whose real nature is vile and evil. Such people may be in positions of importance and trust, such as teachers, deacons, or even pastors. Their purpose is to teach and promote false doctrine, divide and weaken the body, and destroy the witness of the church. The fruits mentioned here are not measured by numbers, like increased attendance or robust finances, but by increase in the Kingdom of God. The harvest of souls is what God is interested in, not the church ledger. Having a mega-church with thousands in attendance and a multi-million dollar facility is certainly not inherently wrong, but if the emphasis of ministry lies there, and not in lives transformed by Christ, the fruits are not those pleasing to God. I find it repugnant that some of the most successful churches in this country rarely, if ever, teach about awareness of sin. Salvation comes only from confession and repentance; it is frightening to think how many of the thousands of people sitting in those congregations will die thinking they are saved, because they've lived good lives guided by psychological principles rather than those of the Gospel. Assuming that the pastors involved are all Christians, and only God can really judge that, they will be called to account for teaching a perversion of the Truth. | |
| Matthew 7:21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. 28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. |
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| This section is a
follow-up to the previous one about false prophets, but also about anyone
who gives the outward appearance of serving Christ, but without inward
commitment. Just joining the church, and doing things in Jesus' name,
doesn't make someone a Christian. The sad thing is that many people go
through their entire lives believing they're Christians, without ever
knowing the Christ. No good works, no matter how marvelous they appear
in the eyes of others, can earn our salvation. We cannot produce the
fruits of salvation without the Holy Spirit. There are cults, and some
so-called Christian denominations, which teach that righteousness is
something we can obtain by our own efforts, but that is clearly contrary to
what the Bible teaches. Good works come after salvation; they never
produce it. We can build our lives on different foundations, from lust, to greed, to success, but none of them will stand the tests and trials of life in the end unless our faith in Christ is the foundation. No matter how beautiful and stately a house appears on the outside, it is no stronger than what lies underneath. Just as few people see or think about a house's foundation, none of them really know what undergirds our lives based on what they see on the outside. No matter how skillful we are in hiding our true motives, we can never hide from God. Nonetheless, Jesus says, we can see the fruits of someone's life, not good works, but what they do with Jesus himself. |
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