Sermon On The Mount Lesson 10 Matthew 7:7-12
Sermon on the Mount – Lesson 10 – Matthew 7:7-12IntroductionIn order to understand Matthew 7:7-11 in context one must return to Matthew 5:20. It is fromthat point on where the kingdom citizen is exhorted to obtain a standard of moral excellenceunattainable through human effort alone. Jesus presents a crescendo of demands beyondhuman wisdom and strength.1 Navigating through all that lies at the root of his unregenerateheart, going the extra mile, loving his enemies, embracing secret deeds, resisting pride,properly directing devotion, casting off cares, and judging not, the kingdom citizen finds himselfquestioning his own ability to keep and obey the commands of his King. How perplexing is this!What is he to do?Please note: Questions are based on the New International Version of the Bible. Personalapplication answers can reflect your opinion and/or spiritual growth. These questions aremarked ‘PA.’Ask, Seek, Knock1. (a) Read Matthew 7:7-8. What are the three commands and what are the three promises?(b) Describe how the three commands show a progressive boldness, urgency and persistency.2. Show how Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:7 support the following principles:(a) Divine assistance accompanies Divine requirements.2(b) Prayer is the channel for obtaining supplies of grace, including spiritual wisdom andstrength, to obey God’s word and engage in God’s work.31Arthur W. Pink, An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount, Baker Book House, 1982, Grand Rapids, MI, p.295Ibid., p.2963Ibid., p.29621
Right Asking3. (a) God offered Divine assistance to King Solomon. From 1 Kings 3:5, what did God say toSolomon?(b) What did King Solomon ask of God and how does his request show his motive to obtainspiritual wisdom and strength? (For additional insight see 1 Chronicles 22:12.)(c) How did God respond to his request and what were the results?(d) PA: Give an example of how you use prayer as a channel for obtaining spiritual wisdom andstrength to obey God’s word and engage in God’s work.4. (a) Fill in the words in the following verses and note what is said about ‘asking.’Psalm 66:18-19 – “If I had in my heart, the Lord would have; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.”Proverbs 28:9 – “If anyone a to the law [God’s commands], even hisare .”James 4:3 – “When you ask, you , because you ask withthat you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”2
1 John 3:21-22 – “Dear friends, if our do not condemn us, we havebefore God and from him we ask, because wehis commands and do what him.”1 John 5:14-15 – “This is the we have in approaching God: that if we askanything his , he us. And if we that heus – we ask – we that we what we asked ofhim.”(b) PA: Which one of the above verses has encouraged you or convicted you? How has itchanged your view of how or what you ask of God?Passionate Seeking5. (a) Read Deuteronomy 4:23-31 with Jeremiah 29:1, 11-14. Write out Jeremiah 29:12-13, andexplain had happened to the Israelites that would eventually cause them to act on the words ofverses 12-13.(b) Compare Daniel’s words in Daniel 9:1-23 with Jeremiah 29:13. How did Daniel demonstrateseeking God through Scripture and pursuing God’s answer? What was the result?3
(c) PA: Give an example of how you have found prayer to be a channel for obtaining supplies ofredeeming grace, and restorative hope.6. (a) Fill in the words in the following verses and note what is said about ‘seeking.’Psalm 119:57-58 – “You are my portion, O Lord; I have to your. I have with ;be gracious to me according to your .”2 Chronicles 7:14 – “If my people who are called by my name,themselves and pray and my face and from their ,then hear from heaven and their andtheir land.”2 Chronicles 30:18b-20 – “Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good,everyone who on God – theLord, the God of his fathers – even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.”And the Lord Hezekiah and the people.”Isaiah 55:6 – “ the Lord he may be ; on himhe is . Let the wicked his way and the evil man his. Let him to the Lord, and he will haveon him, and to our God, for he .”Amos 5:4 – “This is what the Lord says to the house of Israel: “ me and ”4
(b) PA: For what reason should you seek God with all your heart? Will you pursue him throughreading, mediating, studying and memorizing his word?Persistent Knocking7. (a) From the following passages, briefly note the prayers Nehemiah expresses to the Lord inregard to the rebuilding of the wall in Jerusalem.Nehemiah 1:1-11 (especially note verses 4, 6, 8, 11) –Nehemiah 2:4-6, 11-12 –Nehemiah 4:4-5 –(b) In Nehemiah 5:19; 6:14; 13:14, 22, 29 and 31b, what repeated word does Nehemiahpersistently use as a reminder to God?(c) PA: Give an example of how you have found persistent prayer to be the channel forobtaining persevering grace in times of great opposition to your work for the kingdom.8. (a) Fill in the words in the following verses and note what is said about ‘knocking.’Nehemiah 5:19 – “ me with favor, O my God, for all I have done for these people.”Nehemiah 13:22 – “ me for this also, O my God, and show mercy tome according to your great love.”5
Luke 11:8b – “Because of the man’she will get up and give him as much as heneeds.”Luke 18:5 – “Because this widowme, I will see that she getsjustice, so that she won’t eventually with her coming!”Ephesians 6:18 – “And pray in the Spirit on with ofprayers and .”1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – “Be joyful always; ; give thanks inall circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”(b) PA: Through your persistent knocking, what would you like God to remember?Good Gifts9. (a) Read Matthew 7:9-11 with Luke 11:11-13 and John 14:15-17. What promise is found inLuke and John that is not mentioned in Matthew?(b) What do the following verses say about the impact or Divine assistance of this “good gift” inrelation to obtaining supplies of grace, including spiritual wisdom and strength, to obey God’sword and engage in God’s work? Fill in the blanks for your answer.Acts 1:4b-5, 8 – “ wait for the my Father promised, which you have heard me speakabout. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the But you will receive when the comesupon you; and you will be in Jerusalem, and in all Judea andSamaria, and to the ends of the earth.”Acts 6:3 – “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of theand . We will turn this over to them andwill give our attention to and the of the word.”6
Acts 13:2 – “While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, thesaid, “ for me Barnabas and Saul for the to which I have calledthem.”Romans 8:15-16 – “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but youreceived the of . And by him we cry, “ , Father.” Thehimself testifies with our spirit that we are .”Romans 8:26-27 – “In the same way, the helps us in our weakness. We do notknow what we ought to for, but the himself forus with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind ofthe , because the for the saints inwith .”1 Corinthians 2:12-16 – “We have not received the spirit of the world but the who isfrom God, that we may what God has freely us. This is whatwe speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words by the, expressing in .The man without the does not accept the things that come from theof God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are. The man makesabout all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:‘For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?’ Butthe of Christ.”7
1 John 3:24 – “Those who his live in him, and he inthem. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the heus.”(c) PA: Have you asked God for his gift of the Holy Spirit? To receive the Holy Spirit is to receiveJesus Christ in your heart.10. Read Matthew 7:12 with Matthew 22:37-38 in light of Matthew 5 – 7:12. (a) List a fewthings that are included in the ‘everything’ of Jesus’ command to the kingdom citizen.(b) Read Deuteronomy 6:5 with Romans 13:8-10 in light of Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Howdoes love fulfill the law?(c) Read Romans 5:5b. By whose love and by whose power is the kingdom citizen able to fulfillthe command of Matthew 7:12?(d) PA: Have you received the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit through faith inChrist who fulfilled the law by his death? See Romans 5:1-5, 8:9-11.8
Points to PonderIntroductionIn order to understand Matthew 7:7-11 in context one must return to Matthew 5:20. It is fromthat point on where the kingdom citizen is exhorted to obtain a standard of moral excellenceunattainable through human effort alone. Jesus presents a crescendo of demands beyondhuman wisdom and strength.4 Navigating through all that lies at the root of his unregenerateheart, going the extra mile, loving his enemies, embracing secret deeds, resisting pride,properly directing devotion, casting off cares, and judging not, the kingdom citizen finds himselfquestioning his own ability to keep and obey the commands of his King. How perplexing this is!What is he to do?Ask, Seek, KnockIn Matthew 7:7-8, there are three commands and with each command is a promise. “Ask and itwill be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Withthese three commands, there is a progressive boldness, persistency and urgency. Ask impliesthe simplicity of a request or inquiry. It is a present imperative; keep on asking. Seek implieslooking for, probing, or pursuing. It is earnest, sincere and unprejudiced in its pursuit. Knockingimplies “a mixture of dependence and effort, indicating a progressive perseverance.5”Divine assistance accompanies Divine requirements.6 This necessary assistance to meet therequirements of keeping the King’s commands “is to be sought prayerfully, believingly,diligently and persistently,” and if it is sought in this way, it will not be in vain.7Prayer is the channel for obtaining supplies of grace, including spiritual wisdom and strength, toobey God’s word and engage in God’s work.8 Jesus encourages the ‘exercise’ of prayer alongwith other ways of living a spiritual and supernatural life in this world (i.e. seeking first thekingdom, self-denial, putting on God’s armor, persevering against the evil one, standing firm inthe faith).9Right AskingGod offered Divine assistance to King Solomon. King Solomon had firmly established hiskingdom at the very young age of 20. He went to Gibeon and offered 1,000 burnt offerings toGod. During the night, God appeared to Solomon in a dream and said, “Ask for whatever youwant me to give you.” Solomon’s father, David, had expressed his desire to Solomon that theLord give him “discretion and understanding when [God] puts him in command over Israel.”Solomon wisely asked God for “a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguishbetween right and wrong.” God was pleased with Solomon’s request and said, “Since you haveasked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of yourenemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will giveyou a wise and discerning heart so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will4Ibid., p.295A. Wetherell Johnson, Bible Study Fellowship Lesson Notes: The Discourse of Matthew, BSF International, 1973,Matthew Lesson 10, pp.3-46Pink, p.2967Ibid., p.2968Ibid., p.2969Ibid., p.29559
there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for – both riches and honor –so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.”Divine assistance is available through God’s word to properly understand right asking. “Ask andit will be given to you” is often thought of as a blank check for anyone to use regardless of theirrelationship with God (kingdom citizen or not) or their obedience in that relationship. Theybelieve they can fill it in just as they please and God is obligated to honor it. 10 God’s wordteaches that cherished sin blocks prayers to God. Psalm 66:18-19 says, “If I had cherished sin inmy heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice inprayer.” If anyone refuses to listen to or obey God’s commands, God considers the prayersrevolting to him. Proverbs 28:9 says, “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law [God’s commands],even his prayers are detestable.” Just like cherished sin, wrong motives – usually self-seekingmotives – will hinder requests. James 4:3 says, “When you ask, you do not receive, becauseyou ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” A pureheart, a clear conscience and obedience to God’s commands ensures confident requests andanswers to prayer. 1 John 3:21-22 says, “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, wehave confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey hiscommands and do what pleases him.” Asking according to God’s will means prayers are heardand will be answered. 1 John 5:14-15 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God:that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us –whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.”Passionate SeekingJeremiah 29:12-13 says, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listento you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” The Israelites didnot heed the words in Deuteronomy and had sinned against God by worshipping other gods(idols). They were conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and exiled to Babylon. Jeremiah, theprophet, sent a letter that promised a hope and a future to them back in the land of Jerusalem.There would come a time when the people would call on the name of the Lord and seek himand the fulfillment of his promise with all of their heart. Daniel understood from Jeremiah’sletter that the 70 years were coming to an end and it was time to petition God for deliverancefrom captivity. He passionately prayed to ‘give ear, O God, and hear O Lord, listen! O Lord,forgive! O Lord, hear and act! O my God, do not delay ” invoked an immediate response.Gabriel came in ‘swift flight’ as soon as Daniel began to pray, an answer was given.Passionate seeking is an intensification of asking. There is an earnest fervency, a sincerelonging for the spiritual supplies of grace, wisdom and strength for the equipping of thekingdom citizen in kingdom work, and action on God’s part to further his plans.11 Psalm119:57-58 says, “You are my portion, O Lord; I have promised to obey your words. I havesought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.” 2 Chronicles7:14 says, “If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seekmy face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sinand will heal their land.” In 2 Chronicles 30:18b-20, “Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, ‘Maythe Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God – the Lord, the God1011Ibid., p.296Ibid., p.30010
of his fathers – even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.’ And the Lordheard Hezekiah and healed the people.” Isaiah 55:6 declares, “Seek the Lord while he may befound; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man histhoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he willfreely pardon.” From Amos 5:4, “This is what the Lord says to the house of Israel: “Seek me andlive ”Persistent KnockingNehemiah found persistent prayer to be the channel for obtaining persevering grace in times ofgreat opposition to his kingdom work. Upon hearing the news that the surviving exiles are in“great trouble and disgrace” because the walls and gates are destroyed, Nehemiah himself is ingreat distress. He weeps, mourns, fasts, and prays to the Lord. He prays before God day andnight for the people of Israel, confessing their sins. He says, “Remember ” He asks for successand favor in the presence of the king. When the opportunity presents itself, Nehemiah praysquickly. He had already spent days and nights in prayer, so this is just a continuation of all thathe had been preparing for. His prayer for favor from the king is answered.Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem. He has a plan, but does not share “what God had put in myheart to do for Jerusalem.” Opposition to his plan is great. Nehemiah appeals to God to judgethose who are against them. This is a common use of prayer as seen in the imprecatory psalms.Nehemiah persistently uses the word ‘remember’ to remind God of those who are against himand his own persevering plea for favor in all the work that God has put in his heart toaccomplish. “Remember me with favor, O my God, for all I have done for these people.Remember me for this also, O my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.”Elsewhere in God’s word we find evidence of persistent knocking. Luke 11:8b, “Because of theman’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.” Luke 18:5, “Because thiswidow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear meout with her coming!” Ephesians 6:18, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds ofprayers and requests.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Be joyful always; pray continually; givethanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”Just as seeking is an intensification of asking, so is knocking an intensification of seeking. Inspite of right asking and passionate seeking, there are times when it seems as though God is notlistening or responding and the door to open access is tightly closed. “Even so, says Christ, benot discouraged and dismayed, continue your quest, “knock.” There are times when it seemsas though God turns away from us, hides Himself, and we have no access to Him. This is to testour sincerity, to try our earnestness, to put us to the proof as to whether we long for His graceas much as we imagine. If we do, discouragements will only serve to redouble ourefforts Faith refuses to be deterred and continues asking, seeking, knocking until its requestsbe granted.”12Good GiftsWhile there are many good gifts received from the Father (material and spiritual), in thecontext of this passage Jesus refers to spiritual blessings. Luke’s emphasis is on the gift of the12Ibid., p.30111
Holy Spirit given by God, the Father, to those who ask. John describes the Holy Spirit asanother Counselor and the Spirit of truth who lives in those who know Christ.God’s word clearly shows how the good gift
(a) Divine assistance accompanies Divine requirements.2 (b) Prayer is the channel for obtaining supplies of grace, including spiritual wisdom and strength, to obey Gods word and engage in God [s work.3 1 Arthur W. Pink, An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount, Baker Book House, 1982, Grand Rapids, MI, p.295 2 Ibid., p.296 3 Ibid., p.296
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