Kingdom Living 14 Ask, Seek, Knock

Kingdom Living  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Central idea of the text or main idea of the text:
Look to God for all you need.
Homiletic idea: Our good Father is the source of everything good, anything else will disappoint.
Introduction:
We often confuse need with want. My children would come to me and say, “Dad, I need a new pair of shoes.” or “Dad, I really need a Nintendo.” Does anyone really need a Nintendo? We went around and around about a cell phone. “I need a cell phone.” The truth is she wanted one.
Need is having the lack of something that is required. Want is having the desire for something. The sooner we learn the difference between the two, the better off we are. When I get the desire for a new car I start to justify why I should have it. After I come to my senses, I realize that I really don’t need it, I just want it really bad.
Matthew 7:6–12 NASB95
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. “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 he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Outline:

The World Doesn’t Give Goodness

Matthew 7:6 NASB95
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Don’t give your holy attention to anyone but God
a. Don’t give your holy attention to anyone but God. V 6
Matthew 7:6 NASB95
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
i. Dogs was a major insult.
Your attention is valuable. What you spend your time on is valuable. Don’t just throw it away. Your holy attention is worth something.
i. Dogs was a major insult.
1. Street dogs were despised. ;
2 Kings 8:13 NASB95
Then Hazael said, “But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” And Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”
1 Kings 14:11 NASB95
“Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And he who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat; for the Lord has spoken it.” ’
2. A male prostitute was called a dog. DT 23.28
3. The rabbis would refer to Gentiles as dogs. They considered the Gentiles to be of little value.
4. Even Paul called his opponents dogs.
Philippians 3:2 NASB95
Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision;
You wouldn’t give your valuable things to the dogs. They wouldn’t appreciate them and they would tear them up. Dogs don’t understand value. They will chew on a $3,000 piano just as easily as they will chew on a $30 pair of shoes. You know the value of what you have, guard it and treasure it.
Then Jesus says, “don’t cast your pearls before swine.”
ii. Pigs were unclean. The Jews had nothing to do with them.
1. You wouldn’t even touch one. to touch a pig would mean that you were as unclean as they were.
2. You definitely wouldn’t give your jewelry to them.
Just like the dogs, pigs don’t understand the value of pearls and pearls have no value to them so they will trample them treat them badly.
b. The world won’t just disappoint you, it will trample you. V 6b
...they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
i. And after it tramples you, it will tear you apart. V6c
c. When we give attention owed to God to the world we will be disappointed. Eventually, the world leaves you feeling empty. When you invest your time in the world and worldly things, you will find that you have made a bad investment. It will take everything you’ve got and give you nothing in return, except heartache and misery. An investment in the world never gives you love in return. When you chase the things of this world you give and give and give and it will take and take and take.
We are left feeling empty, because we are empty. Only one thing will fill the void that is within us and that is Jesus Christ. if you give Him your love and attention, He will fill you. He will love you when no one else will. He will value you when no one else will. We all want to be validated, we want to know that we are of worth. When we realize that we are holy, we will start to realize that we have worth and we will work to treasure and value that holiness from God.

Give What is Holy to God

Matthew 7:7–8 NASB95
“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 he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Matthew 6:7–8 NASB95
“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
The world seeks to take from us
and it will take until we have nothing left to give.
But, God seeks to give to us.

Ask

Seek

Knock

God is Better at Giving Than We Are

V 9-11
Matthew 7:9–11 NASB95
“Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
Matt 7.9

We want good things for our children

V 9-10
a. We want good things for our children. V 9-10
A good parent wants good things for their children. You want them to have good shoes, clothes, a good education. My mom never said, “those clothes are too good for you.” She worried that what she could afford would not be good enough.

We want them to have it better than we did

My parents didn’t have the opportunity to go to college, but they made sure that I did. Parents sacrifice so their children may have it better and have more opportunities.

Good parents don’t intentionally give their kids bad things

V 11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
i. God is a good father.
ii. He doesn’t just want good for you.
iii. He wants the best.

Don’t Place Yourself Above Others and Don’t Look for Others to Satisfy Your Needs

and Don’t Look for Others to Satisfy Your Needs

Matthew 7:12 NASB95
“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
V 12

The Golden Rule

a. The Golden Rule
Treat others how you want to be treated.
You know how you want to be treated and you know how you want others to treat your family and friends. This starts with us, not them. It also is based on what we believe about other people.
Remember, God created them.
1. Who are we to judge? We talked about this last week. This is the Golden Rule in action. If you don’t want to be judged, then don’t judge. If you don’t want to be talked about...
We are to love people like we want to be loved.
12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
This wasn’t a new command. This is an old command that Jesus is simply reminding them of.
Conclusion:
· It is easy to look to the world for answers or to meet our needs, but that is giving what is holy to the dogs. Your holy attention should look to God.
· Nobody would give their valuable jewelry to pigs, so why would you give what is God’s to the world?
· Our Father delights in satisfying His children. Don’t go anywhere else. He is a good good Father who wants to take care of His children.
· He does this because He loves us. Our response in loving Him is to show His love to others.
As we begin Holy Week and we focus on the last week of Jesus’ life we will remember how He showed His love for us and what He was willing to do for us, His children.
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