Matthew 7:7-12 November 12, Jesus Uncut Confronting Worry and Strife

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1 Matthew 7:7-12 November 12, 2017 Jesus Uncut Confronting Worry and Strife Introduction: The text before us today brings to a close the substantive content of this discourse. NOTE: What will follow (next week) is a series of four sketches which will underline the importance of responding obediently to what has been taught and the consequences of failing to obey. Context (7-12) At the heart is truth revealed by Jesus in His dialogue with the lawyer And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All? 34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:33-40 NKJV Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12 NKJV Hang kremmannymi (to suspend or hang up) (krim-on-a-mee) Interesting used of one hanging on a cross Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree") Galatians 3:13 NKJV "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. Matthew 5:17 NKJV Loving GOD, Loving neighbor is fulfillment of the Law and Prophets Is this not what Jesus did at Calvary? (ILL) At Gethsemane (loved/trusted God and loved the world) 1

2 Two Statements 1. All through the Sermon on the Mount relationship with God has been the focus: a. Doing righteousness for only God to see trusting Him to see/reward b. Serving Him wholeheartedly! "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24 NKJV c. Not worrying about provisions 2. The other main theme has seen relationship with others (persecutions, offense, murder, hate, divorce, adultery, criticism, judgment, forgiveness) TRUTH: Whole of Sermon of the Mount Vertical God Horizontal Others Now the exhortations come to a close with same focus Two Truths I. A robust trust in God is the antidote to worry. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34 NKJV "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 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 good things to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:7-11 NKJV A. General observations about text 1. In v of chapter 6, the focus was exclusively on need NOT desire. (Eat, wear, drink) here the son is asking for bread/fish BASICS 2

3 2. Best to read unqualified offer 7, 8 against the backdrop good things necessities 3. Carta blanche approach to petitionary prayer is not supported in the New Testament as a whole 4. Father knows what is good and what we need For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Matthew 6:32 NKJV 5. While caution is necessary, does seem to be an invitation to explore the extent of his generosity NOTE: Can be secure in knowing He will only give that which is good a. Nothing mechanical or inevitable about our prayers b. We won t get struck with something bad if we ask amiss 6. Even in the Gospel times when door is NOT opened "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. 11 "Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' 12 But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Matthew 25:10-12 NKJV NOTE: The prayer of Jesus was an unanswered request He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." Matthew 26:39 NKJV B. Three specific areas of trust 1. Our Father s generosity a. Our Father s generosity may not always coincide with our desires (ILL) Parents who are good parents are generous in giving what is needed not necessarily what is desired. 3

4 b. Scripture teaches we don t always know how to pray or what to pray for Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Romans 8:26 NKJV Spurgeon: Our prayers go to Heaven in a revised version. It would be a terrible thing if God always gave us we all asked for. Our Heavenly Father knows how to give better than we know how to ask. 2. We trust our Father s character 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 good things to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:11 NKJV How much more a. He is like no other In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Matthew 6:9 NKJV (Hallowed) Hagiozo to separate, to be totally other (ILL) Good Good Father b. He misses nothing But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. Matthew 6:3-4 NKJV NOTE: Repeated(6, 18) NOTE: Saw you before you were born My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. Psalms 139:15-16 NKJV 4

5 Sees you when you are progressing O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. Psalms 139:1-3 NKJV Sees you when you are failing Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me," Even the night shall be light about me; 12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. Psalms 139:7-12 NKJV c. He knows our every need For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Matthew 6:32 NKJV We trust His Generosity Character 3. We trust our Father s wisdom NOTE: He knows what is good! (ILL) Sitting with God on the Bathroom Floor In his book The Pressure's Off, psychologist Larry Crabb uses a story from his childhood to illustrate our need to delight in God through adversity: One Saturday afternoon, I decided I was a big boy and could use the bathroom without anyone's help. So I climbed the stairs, closed and locked the door behind me, and for the next few minutes felt very self-sufficient. Then it was time to leave. I couldn't unlock the door. I tried with every ounce of my three-year-old strength, but I couldn't do it. I panicked. I felt again like a very little boy as the thought went through my head, "I might spend the rest of my life in this bathroom." My parents and likely the neighbors heard my desperate scream. "Are you okay?" Mother shouted through the door she couldn't open from the outside. "Did you fall? Have you hit your head?" "I can't unlock the door!" I yelled. "Get me out of here!" I wasn't aware of it right then, but Dad raced down the stairs, ran to the garage to find the ladder, hauled it off the hooks, and leaned it against the side of the house just beneath the bedroom window. With adult strength, he pried it open, then climbed into my prison, walked past me, and with that same strength, turned the lock and opened the door. "Thanks, Dad," I said and ran out to play. 5

6 That's how I thought the Christian life was supposed to work. When I get stuck in a tight place, I should do all I can to free myself. When I can't, I should pray. Then God shows up. He hears my cry "Get me out of here! I want to play!" and unlocks the door to the blessings I desire. Sometimes he does. But now, no longer three years old and approaching sixty, I'm realizing the Christian life doesn't work that way. And I wonder, are any of us content with God? Do we even like him when he doesn't open the door we most want opened when a marriage doesn't heal, when rebellious kids still rebel, when friends betray, when financial reverses threaten our comfortable way of life, when the prospect of terrorism looms, when health worsens despite much prayer, when loneliness intensifies and depression deepens, when ministries die? God has climbed through the small window into my dark room. But he doesn't walk by me to turn the lock that I couldn't budge. Instead, he sits down on the bathroom floor and says, "Come sit with me!" He seems to think that climbing into the room to be with me matters more than letting me out to play. I don't always see it that way. "Get me out of here!" I scream. "If you love me, unlock the door!" Dear friend, the choice is ours. Either we can keep asking him to give us what we think will make us happy to escape our dark room and run to the playground of blessings or we can accept his invitation to sit with him, for now, perhaps, in darkness, and to seize the opportunity to know him better and represent him well in this difficult world. A robust trust in God is the antidote to worry II. A robust goodness toward others is the antidote to strife. Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12 NKJV (ILL) Golden Rule Roman Emperor Alexander Severus ( ) Not a Christian So impressed by the comprehensiveness of Jesus saying had it inscribed in gold on the wall of his chamber A. How we treat others has been huge throughout the Sermon on the Mount (Beatitudes, Salt and Light, Judgment on Creation) B. Now This is exceeding righteousness (ILL) Rabbi Hittel challenged by a Gentile to teach me the whole Torah while I m standing on one leg. Do not do to your neighbors that which is hateful to you. This is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary. C. Similar to Jesus but Jesus is positive 1. See the good qualities I have not just the bad ones. 2. Give me the benefit of doubt when my actions fall short of my profession. 3. If I hurt you, forgive me. 6

7 4. If I am struggling, be patient with me and help me. 5. Even if I fail, remember whose I am and who died for me. (ILL) Man Left to Die on Mount Everest In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to ascend the 29,035-foot peak of Mount Everest. They were not the last. In the 1990s, Nepal lifted its once tight restrictions on climbing the legendary mountain in order to boost tourist dollars. As of 2006, more than 2,700 people have reached the summit of the world's tallest mountain, many paying over $60,000 for the experience. One result of this commercial influx has been the erosion of the traditional moral code of mountaineering. In the rush to the top, amateurs who have paid a fortune for the bragging rights will do anything it takes to get to the summit, including abandoning other climbers. David Sharp became a casualty of this modern mentality in March of The 34-year-old engineer from Cleveland did manage to reach the summit on his own. However, he ran out of oxygen on the way back down 984 feet from the top. As he lay dying, 40 climbers passed him by, too eager to achieve their own goals to take a chance on using up their oxygen on someone else. As a result, David Sharp froze to death. According to Ed Viestrus, who has scaled all 14 of the world's 8,000 meter peaks, Sharp's death is not unique. "Passing people who are dying is not uncommon. Unfortunately, there are those who say: 'It's not my problem. I've spent all this money, and I'm going to the summit.'" This attitude has produced disgust in many climbers, including Sir Edmund Hillary. "On my expedition," he said, "there was no way you'd have left a man under a rock to die." Conclusion: 9 Hang He hung on these two truths Take up our cross Love/Trust God Love our neighbor 7