1 00:00:15,140 --> 00:00:18,100 We continue this morning to meditate on the 2 00:00:18,100 --> 00:00:21,680 words of the Sermon on the Mount as 3 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:24,040 recorded by St. Matthew, and we are turning 4 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,800 now to chapter 7, and beginning to read 5 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,800 with verse 7, we shall read the passage 6 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:32,580 that ends with the 12th verse. 7 00:00:34,020 --> 00:00:36,380 Much of the same substance was heard in 8 00:00:36,380 --> 00:00:39,360 our earlier reading from Luke, though you will 9 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,220 notice, I'm sure, that there are some additions 10 00:00:42,220 --> 00:00:47,760 there, or slight differences, the one qualifying the 11 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:48,040 other. 12 00:00:51,860 --> 00:00:54,420 Ask, and it will be given to you. 13 00:00:55,660 --> 00:00:57,620 Seek, and you will find. 14 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,580 Knock, and the door will be opened to 15 00:01:01,580 --> 00:01:01,840 you. 16 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,540 For everyone who asks, receives. 17 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,600 He who seeks, finds, and to him who 18 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,120 knocks, the door will be opened. 19 00:01:12,900 --> 00:01:16,860 Which of you, if his son asks for 20 00:01:16,860 --> 00:01:18,740 bread, will give him a stone? 21 00:01:19,780 --> 00:01:22,360 Or if he asks for a fish, will 22 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:23,200 give him a snake? 23 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,820 If you then, though you are evil, know 24 00:01:28,820 --> 00:01:31,700 how to give good gifts to your children, 25 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:37,740 how much more will your Father in heaven 26 00:01:37,740 --> 00:01:40,300 give good gifts to those who ask Him? 27 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:46,000 In everything, do to others what you would 28 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:47,480 have them do to you. 29 00:01:48,300 --> 00:01:53,280 For this sums up the law and the 30 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:53,700 prophets. 31 00:01:58,540 --> 00:02:01,500 We have entitled our message this morning, Compelling 32 00:02:01,500 --> 00:02:05,880 Inducement to Pray, and I trust that the 33 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:10,580 validity of that title will become evident before 34 00:02:10,580 --> 00:02:13,840 we have concluded our exposition of this passage. 35 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:19,490 There are many who have read the Sermon 36 00:02:19,490 --> 00:02:22,650 on the Mount, and have concluded that it 37 00:02:22,650 --> 00:02:29,580 is purely idealistic, that it is meant to 38 00:02:29,580 --> 00:02:33,860 be a kind of ideal that should profitably 39 00:02:33,860 --> 00:02:37,860 occupy the minds of people, something to dream 40 00:02:37,860 --> 00:02:45,800 about, but that it is nevertheless totally impracticable. 41 00:02:47,300 --> 00:02:49,940 Incapable of being obeyed and put into practice. 42 00:02:51,700 --> 00:02:54,640 Now, I don't want to take time on 43 00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:57,840 this matter in order to prove it. 44 00:02:58,000 --> 00:02:59,480 There would be no real point. 45 00:03:00,860 --> 00:03:03,500 But it is true, to many people this 46 00:03:03,500 --> 00:03:05,100 morning, the Sermon on the Mount is nothing 47 00:03:05,100 --> 00:03:06,000 more than that. 48 00:03:08,500 --> 00:03:13,600 Others, of course, have seen deeper into the 49 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:14,960 reality of things. 50 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,840 They have recognized, for one thing, the deity 51 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:19,700 of the preacher. 52 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:24,000 And along with the deity of the preacher, 53 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:27,360 the utter integrity of his word. 54 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,800 And they have recognized that here our Lord 55 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:37,720 Jesus Christ was really summoning his followers, the 56 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,500 subjects of his kingdom, to live the kind 57 00:03:40,500 --> 00:03:42,680 of life that he here outlines. 58 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:50,120 Many of those who have recognized the authority 59 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:54,200 and the sincerity of the preacher have tried 60 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:59,120 very hard to obey the precepts of the 61 00:03:59,120 --> 00:03:59,420 Sermon. 62 00:04:01,020 --> 00:04:04,300 Some have done well, some not so well. 63 00:04:06,140 --> 00:04:07,400 Many have utterly failed. 64 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:11,620 And that to which I want to refer 65 00:04:11,620 --> 00:04:13,920 now is this, that many have become broken 66 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:15,000 -hearted in attempting. 67 00:04:19,230 --> 00:04:24,330 I have discovered many, many, many people, too 68 00:04:24,330 --> 00:04:30,130 many to count, well-intentioned, eager to serve 69 00:04:30,130 --> 00:04:34,050 their Lord, who have read the Sermon on 70 00:04:34,050 --> 00:04:35,730 the Mount and other passages of the New 71 00:04:35,730 --> 00:04:38,690 Testament over and over again, but I'm thinking 72 00:04:38,690 --> 00:04:40,870 now specifically of the Sermon on the Mount, 73 00:04:42,210 --> 00:04:46,050 and have wanted to know the secret of 74 00:04:46,050 --> 00:04:49,270 expressing these precepts in life. 75 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:52,740 But they've not been able to. 76 00:04:55,140 --> 00:04:57,820 And one of the main reasons why they've 77 00:04:57,820 --> 00:04:59,520 not been able to is that they have 78 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:05,660 never seen the glory and the significance of 79 00:05:05,660 --> 00:05:08,500 this Word of God before us today, and 80 00:05:08,500 --> 00:05:12,820 they've never seen it in its real context. 81 00:05:14,770 --> 00:05:17,310 I have to confess myself, let preachers make 82 00:05:17,310 --> 00:05:20,450 confessions from time to time, but I have 83 00:05:20,450 --> 00:05:23,030 to confess myself that this has been true 84 00:05:23,030 --> 00:05:23,450 of me. 85 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:27,640 I believe I have preached on this text 86 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:29,400 before, not here in Knox, but I think 87 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:30,660 I have somewhere or other. 88 00:05:31,420 --> 00:05:34,600 But I saw it as dealing with a 89 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:40,040 subject of prayer, and I came to it 90 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,780 as if it hung in midair, a Word 91 00:05:43,780 --> 00:05:48,620 of God, but I never saw it until 92 00:05:48,620 --> 00:05:53,140 this week, here in the context in which 93 00:05:53,140 --> 00:05:58,360 it is found as the key to the 94 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:02,660 living of the life to which Jesus calls 95 00:06:02,660 --> 00:06:05,960 us in the very context here in the 96 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:06,720 Sermon on the Mount. 97 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:10,220 And if I can do nothing else this 98 00:06:10,220 --> 00:06:12,260 morning, I want to ask the Lord in 99 00:06:12,260 --> 00:06:14,660 His grace to be merciful to us, and 100 00:06:14,660 --> 00:06:18,420 enable us to see that really everything hangs 101 00:06:18,420 --> 00:06:19,100 upon this. 102 00:06:21,980 --> 00:06:24,940 And if you and I see the teaching 103 00:06:24,940 --> 00:06:27,520 and the summons and the ethical standards without 104 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:32,700 hearing this command to come and to seek 105 00:06:32,700 --> 00:06:34,400 and to ask and to knock and to 106 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:39,200 go on seeking, asking, knocking, because everyone who 107 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:42,640 seeks is given, everyone who asks the door 108 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:44,460 is open to him, and so forth. 109 00:06:45,820 --> 00:06:51,000 Unless we see this, that really prayer is 110 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:56,280 the ultimate answer to godly living, Brothers and 111 00:06:56,280 --> 00:06:59,320 sisters, we have missed the most important thing 112 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:00,360 in the whole of the Bible. 113 00:07:02,620 --> 00:07:03,760 Let's come to it. 114 00:07:05,340 --> 00:07:07,400 It seems to me that the passage demands 115 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:08,520 a threefold division. 116 00:07:10,340 --> 00:07:13,340 It begins with an almost excited announcement by 117 00:07:13,340 --> 00:07:16,340 Jesus of an all-encompassing promise, verses 7 118 00:07:16,340 --> 00:07:16,720 and 8. 119 00:07:18,380 --> 00:07:20,940 It then proceeds to focus attention upon our 120 00:07:20,940 --> 00:07:23,720 all-excelling Heavenly Father. 121 00:07:24,260 --> 00:07:26,460 And this of course is basic to prayer. 122 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:28,960 Who are we praying to? 123 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:30,940 What kind of a person are we praying 124 00:07:30,940 --> 00:07:31,180 to? 125 00:07:32,140 --> 00:07:35,080 And then it concludes with an all-inclusive 126 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:39,740 principle, which would apparently sum up the whole 127 00:07:39,740 --> 00:07:41,200 of the Sermon on the Mount, and say 128 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:43,920 to us in effect, in conclusion as it 129 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:48,260 were, Now, this is the way forward. 130 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,580 This one principle seems to gather up everything 131 00:07:53,580 --> 00:07:54,660 that's gone before it. 132 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:57,300 This is the way forward, and this is 133 00:07:57,300 --> 00:07:58,120 the way of victory. 134 00:08:00,330 --> 00:08:02,930 Let's look at at least two of these 135 00:08:02,930 --> 00:08:07,430 points this morning, in dependence upon the grace 136 00:08:07,430 --> 00:08:08,410 of the Holy Spirit. 137 00:08:08,630 --> 00:08:11,930 First of all, I want us to look 138 00:08:11,930 --> 00:08:14,390 at this all-encompassing promise. 139 00:08:15,830 --> 00:08:19,370 With all his now evident authority as a 140 00:08:19,370 --> 00:08:21,910 teacher in matters relating to God and man, 141 00:08:22,810 --> 00:08:27,370 and with his equally evident sense of the 142 00:08:27,370 --> 00:08:31,030 unrivaled nature of the privilege he was conferring 143 00:08:31,030 --> 00:08:35,770 upon his followers, Jesus made this all-inclusive 144 00:08:35,770 --> 00:08:36,350 promise. 145 00:08:38,740 --> 00:08:42,159 Ask, and it will be given you. 146 00:08:43,900 --> 00:08:46,720 Seek, and you will find. 147 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:52,020 Knock, and the door will be opened to 148 00:08:52,020 --> 00:08:52,320 you. 149 00:08:53,560 --> 00:08:56,760 Let it be willingly conceded, of course, that 150 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:59,220 we must understand such a remarkable promise in 151 00:08:59,220 --> 00:09:00,940 the light of what Jesus has to say 152 00:09:00,940 --> 00:09:03,540 elsewhere, concerning the same subject. 153 00:09:04,300 --> 00:09:09,660 But whatever he may say elsewhere, it does 154 00:09:09,660 --> 00:09:12,800 not give us license to whittle down this 155 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:18,080 remarkable promise, so that it virtually means nothing. 156 00:09:18,820 --> 00:09:20,680 And there are many who do that, that's 157 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:22,240 why I put it in that way. 158 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:25,780 As a matter of fact, this is the 159 00:09:25,780 --> 00:09:29,520 crucial key that Jesus puts in our hands 160 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:33,360 for the successful practice of the precepts he 161 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:36,800 has enunciated throughout the Sermon on the Mount. 162 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,120 Now, look first at the extent of his 163 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:40,560 promise. 164 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:43,820 Ask, and it will be given you. 165 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:45,780 Now, he's not mentioning them by name, he's 166 00:09:45,780 --> 00:09:48,040 talking to all the subjects of his kingdom. 167 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:51,620 And his terms are so couched that they 168 00:09:51,620 --> 00:09:53,340 apply to the subjects of his kingdom in 169 00:09:53,340 --> 00:09:56,080 any age, in every age, in every clime, 170 00:09:56,260 --> 00:09:57,220 at any time. 171 00:10:00,050 --> 00:10:02,710 He's not simply addressing the apostles, there's a 172 00:10:02,710 --> 00:10:04,070 larger company even here. 173 00:10:04,730 --> 00:10:09,430 But he is fundamentally addressing the subjects of 174 00:10:09,430 --> 00:10:12,130 his kingdom, his followers, his disciples. 175 00:10:13,730 --> 00:10:15,550 Ask, he says, and it will be given 176 00:10:15,550 --> 00:10:15,850 you. 177 00:10:16,910 --> 00:10:18,510 Seek, and you will find. 178 00:10:18,830 --> 00:10:20,550 Knock, and the door will be opened to 179 00:10:20,550 --> 00:10:20,690 you. 180 00:10:20,950 --> 00:10:22,630 And then, as if that were not clear 181 00:10:22,630 --> 00:10:24,130 enough, listen to this. 182 00:10:25,130 --> 00:10:29,110 For every one who asks, receives. 183 00:10:30,450 --> 00:10:32,970 He who seeks, finds. 184 00:10:34,010 --> 00:10:37,590 To him who knocks, the door will be 185 00:10:37,590 --> 00:10:38,030 opened. 186 00:10:38,810 --> 00:10:42,410 No one seems to be necessarily barred from 187 00:10:42,410 --> 00:10:42,710 there. 188 00:10:42,950 --> 00:10:46,130 It's as wide, it is as extensive as 189 00:10:46,130 --> 00:10:48,010 the kingdom of God is extensive. 190 00:10:48,450 --> 00:10:51,130 It is as inclusive as the kingdom of 191 00:10:51,130 --> 00:10:51,930 God is inclusive. 192 00:10:53,230 --> 00:10:56,210 And if you claim this morning to own 193 00:10:56,210 --> 00:10:58,950 Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Saviour, 194 00:10:59,330 --> 00:11:03,190 brother and sister, these are words of God, 195 00:11:03,350 --> 00:11:06,710 from God, through his Son, to you and 196 00:11:06,710 --> 00:11:07,070 to me. 197 00:11:07,670 --> 00:11:11,330 But you say, they can't be true, because 198 00:11:11,330 --> 00:11:12,990 I have asked and I have not received. 199 00:11:13,130 --> 00:11:19,790 Well now, this raises many questions, practical questions. 200 00:11:20,930 --> 00:11:22,190 But this is the promise. 201 00:11:23,430 --> 00:11:26,030 And I have to ask myself, and I 202 00:11:26,030 --> 00:11:29,090 bid you ask yourself, if we say that 203 00:11:29,090 --> 00:11:31,910 we have asked and sought and knocked and 204 00:11:31,910 --> 00:11:36,590 got no answer, who has been at fault? 205 00:11:38,150 --> 00:11:39,950 Has it been the petitioner? 206 00:11:41,610 --> 00:11:44,030 Or has it been the God and Father 207 00:11:44,030 --> 00:11:45,330 of our Lord Jesus Christ? 208 00:11:46,310 --> 00:11:48,630 You see, the fact of the matter is 209 00:11:48,630 --> 00:11:51,650 this, that so much of our so-called 210 00:11:51,650 --> 00:11:53,550 praying is no praying at all. 211 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:58,880 And so much of our so-called praying 212 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:03,320 is not really prayer to the Father Almighty, 213 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,440 through His co-equal Son, in the power 214 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:09,960 of His Holy Spirit, and according to the 215 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:11,320 promises of His Word. 216 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,120 So much of our praying is just sheer, 217 00:12:15,620 --> 00:12:20,260 fanciful talking about things, informing God of things 218 00:12:20,260 --> 00:12:23,220 that we deem He apparently doesn't know about. 219 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:27,920 But God knows a few things. 220 00:12:30,930 --> 00:12:33,830 Ask, said Jesus, and it will be given 221 00:12:33,830 --> 00:12:34,130 you. 222 00:12:35,410 --> 00:12:37,590 Seek, and you will find. 223 00:12:37,790 --> 00:12:40,490 Knock, and it will be opened to you. 224 00:12:42,050 --> 00:12:44,910 Now I pass from the extensiveness of it, 225 00:12:45,050 --> 00:12:47,470 but I hope sufficient has been said, even 226 00:12:47,470 --> 00:12:50,210 to this point, to bring home the fact 227 00:12:50,210 --> 00:12:52,190 that you and I are included, if you're 228 00:12:52,190 --> 00:12:53,830 a disciple of Christ this morning. 229 00:12:55,290 --> 00:12:57,850 And if you and I have not discovered 230 00:12:57,850 --> 00:13:01,730 this to be true, now that is an 231 00:13:01,730 --> 00:13:03,410 area that we've got to look into. 232 00:13:05,130 --> 00:13:06,630 Something's gone wrong somewhere. 233 00:13:07,650 --> 00:13:09,530 And if something has gone wrong, and this 234 00:13:09,530 --> 00:13:11,870 is not working in our lives, we ought 235 00:13:11,870 --> 00:13:15,150 for God's own glory and our eternal good, 236 00:13:15,150 --> 00:13:20,950 seek into things, and find out what, and 237 00:13:20,950 --> 00:13:23,070 why, and where. 238 00:13:24,670 --> 00:13:27,430 You see, it's so much easier to look 239 00:13:27,430 --> 00:13:30,450 for some sort of experience of this kind 240 00:13:30,450 --> 00:13:34,730 or another, and then come back gloating about 241 00:13:34,730 --> 00:13:37,130 some experience of this, of that, or the 242 00:13:37,130 --> 00:13:44,750 other, rather than work out this principle, and 243 00:13:44,750 --> 00:13:47,350 let God show us why it is that 244 00:13:47,350 --> 00:13:48,470 He is not real to us. 245 00:13:48,630 --> 00:13:50,190 Because the fact of the matter is this, 246 00:13:50,250 --> 00:13:53,150 you see, if this is not true, and 247 00:13:53,150 --> 00:13:56,050 if it's not being made true in our 248 00:13:56,050 --> 00:14:00,050 lives, the probability is that God is not 249 00:14:00,050 --> 00:14:01,050 real to us. 250 00:14:02,350 --> 00:14:06,190 And our religion may have God in it 251 00:14:06,190 --> 00:14:09,950 as an article of doctrine, but not as 252 00:14:09,950 --> 00:14:11,510 a fact of experience. 253 00:14:11,510 --> 00:14:16,170 And this is one of the great tragedies 254 00:14:16,170 --> 00:14:19,850 of so much religion in every age, that 255 00:14:19,850 --> 00:14:22,730 God may be in it as a point 256 00:14:22,730 --> 00:14:26,890 of doctrine, a point of reference, but not 257 00:14:26,890 --> 00:14:29,050 as a fact of experience. 258 00:14:31,830 --> 00:14:34,850 Jesus says, ask and you'll receive. 259 00:14:35,130 --> 00:14:37,810 Either He's right, or He's wrong. 260 00:14:39,050 --> 00:14:41,830 Either He's true, or He's false. 261 00:14:41,830 --> 00:14:46,440 And I rather believe that He is true, 262 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:52,060 even though it indicts me of lethargy, of 263 00:14:52,060 --> 00:14:57,100 sin, of whatever, and tells me that my 264 00:14:57,100 --> 00:14:59,680 prayer life is but an excuse of praying, 265 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:02,420 or something short of what it ought to 266 00:15:02,420 --> 00:15:02,620 be. 267 00:15:05,900 --> 00:15:08,260 Now let's move from the extent of our 268 00:15:08,260 --> 00:15:10,780 Lord's promise to the content of it. 269 00:15:12,340 --> 00:15:15,420 Let's come in more specifically and examine the 270 00:15:15,420 --> 00:15:15,740 content. 271 00:15:15,740 --> 00:15:19,480 Truly these words would carry weight, as we 272 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:23,280 have suggested already, even if we were to 273 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:24,640 take them out of their context. 274 00:15:24,860 --> 00:15:28,540 They're remarkable, they comprise a remarkable utterance. 275 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:34,920 But here in the context, in the Sermon 276 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:37,260 on the Mount, I think we see these 277 00:15:37,260 --> 00:15:40,480 words in their glory, their real glory. 278 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:45,160 Our present text, Matthew 7, 7 to 12, 279 00:15:45,300 --> 00:15:50,320 I believe, provides the one crucial key that 280 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:53,600 makes the preceding teaching of Jesus practicable. 281 00:15:58,530 --> 00:16:03,070 Until we learn to ask and receive, to 282 00:16:03,070 --> 00:16:04,810 knock so that the door is open, to 283 00:16:04,810 --> 00:16:07,270 seek until we find, until we've learned to 284 00:16:07,270 --> 00:16:10,530 do that, we cannot live the Sermon on 285 00:16:10,530 --> 00:16:10,830 the Mount. 286 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:16,640 But when we've learned to do that, we 287 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:18,140 can live the Sermon on the Mount. 288 00:16:19,220 --> 00:16:22,760 In other words, what I believe our Lord 289 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:24,940 is telling us here, we have such a 290 00:16:24,940 --> 00:16:28,160 Heavenly Father, and we have such a privilege 291 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:31,020 of approach to Him, come to Him and 292 00:16:31,020 --> 00:16:32,880 keep on coming to Him with all your 293 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,020 needs, and He has everything you need. 294 00:16:38,090 --> 00:16:40,250 And there is nothing you can't do that 295 00:16:40,250 --> 00:16:43,550 is within the orbit of His will, if 296 00:16:43,550 --> 00:16:45,770 you will, by His grace. 297 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:54,880 Rob the sermon of these words, and you 298 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:56,640 are left, I believe, in the same kind 299 00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:01,020 of bewilderment as that in which the Blessed 300 00:17:01,020 --> 00:17:05,420 Virgin Mary found herself, when the angel made 301 00:17:05,420 --> 00:17:07,560 an announcement to her that she was highly 302 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:10,880 favoured of the Lord, that she would be 303 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:13,920 with child who would be great, who would 304 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:16,040 be called the Son of the Most High, 305 00:17:17,300 --> 00:17:19,220 who would be given the throne of His 306 00:17:19,220 --> 00:17:21,960 Father David, and who would reign over the 307 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:24,260 house of Jacob forever because His kingdom would 308 00:17:24,260 --> 00:17:26,839 know no end, to quote from Luke chapter 309 00:17:26,839 --> 00:17:28,720 1, verses 28 following. 310 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,900 You remember how the Virgin Mary was baffled 311 00:17:33,900 --> 00:17:36,760 and bewildered by such a gigantic promise as 312 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:40,660 that, because she knew one thing as no 313 00:17:40,660 --> 00:17:42,480 one else did, she knew that she was 314 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:43,640 still a virgin. 315 00:17:45,830 --> 00:17:46,990 And she says so. 316 00:17:48,610 --> 00:17:53,810 And she cried out with anguish, How can 317 00:17:53,810 --> 00:17:57,010 this kind of thing be, seeing I don't 318 00:17:57,010 --> 00:17:57,850 know a man? 319 00:18:02,220 --> 00:18:07,240 What rendered that unique promise believable, however, even 320 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:11,780 certain, was the angel's reply which begins with 321 00:18:11,780 --> 00:18:16,260 these words, The Holy Spirit will come upon 322 00:18:16,260 --> 00:18:20,420 you, and the power of the Most High 323 00:18:20,420 --> 00:18:24,360 will overshadow you, and that which shall be 324 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:28,420 born of you will be called a Son 325 00:18:28,420 --> 00:18:29,500 of God. 326 00:18:33,660 --> 00:18:36,120 The reply changed the whole situation for Mary, 327 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:40,720 her response now is this, I'm the Lord's 328 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:41,600 servant. 329 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:46,500 Another way of saying, Lord, I'm at your 330 00:18:46,500 --> 00:18:47,000 disposal. 331 00:18:50,210 --> 00:18:52,850 May it be to me as you have 332 00:18:52,850 --> 00:18:55,170 said, then the angel left her. 333 00:18:55,190 --> 00:18:56,250 There's nothing more to do. 334 00:18:59,700 --> 00:19:01,760 Now it is somewhat similar with us who 335 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:03,980 have heard the call of this summon on 336 00:19:03,980 --> 00:19:06,520 the mount, and all that is therein contained. 337 00:19:07,020 --> 00:19:10,660 It sounds beautiful, but impracticable to many of 338 00:19:10,660 --> 00:19:10,920 us. 339 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:14,580 I come to you this morning and I 340 00:19:14,580 --> 00:19:17,780 say to you, It is practicable if you 341 00:19:17,780 --> 00:19:21,140 are prepared to undergo the discipline of learning 342 00:19:21,140 --> 00:19:21,900 how to pray. 343 00:19:24,870 --> 00:19:28,630 And when you've learned the discipline persistently, as 344 00:19:28,630 --> 00:19:30,670 Jesus said, these are all in the present 345 00:19:30,670 --> 00:19:35,250 continuous tense, Go on asking, go on knocking, 346 00:19:35,490 --> 00:19:36,570 go on seeking. 347 00:19:37,330 --> 00:19:38,270 That's what he said. 348 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:43,400 Now either he's right or wrong, but if 349 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:48,010 he's wrong, we're in serious waters. 350 00:19:48,010 --> 00:19:52,760 We like Mary know that we simply do 351 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:55,660 not have the capacity to achieve so high 352 00:19:55,660 --> 00:19:57,760 a calling as that envisaged in this sermon 353 00:19:57,760 --> 00:19:58,260 on the mount. 354 00:19:58,940 --> 00:20:01,100 It may win the admiration of the centuries 355 00:20:01,100 --> 00:20:04,380 as an idea, but do not press its 356 00:20:04,380 --> 00:20:08,360 application to life since we're not sure that 357 00:20:08,360 --> 00:20:12,340 it can be achieved, unless this be true. 358 00:20:14,420 --> 00:20:17,400 And here we have an open door to 359 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:21,960 the source of all spiritual resources. 360 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:30,520 And by asking and seeking and knocking, we 361 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:32,240 may make them ours. 362 00:20:37,990 --> 00:20:40,130 Now that is exactly what our text is, 363 00:20:40,230 --> 00:20:40,950 it seems to me. 364 00:20:41,670 --> 00:20:44,750 It announces the means whereby the ideal can 365 00:20:44,750 --> 00:20:48,090 become practical and experiential. 366 00:20:48,090 --> 00:20:51,350 It tells us how everything Jesus has thus 367 00:20:51,350 --> 00:20:53,770 far required of his followers in the body 368 00:20:53,770 --> 00:20:57,990 of the sermon may be achieved by ordinary 369 00:20:57,990 --> 00:21:01,630 men and women subject to the same temptations 370 00:21:01,630 --> 00:21:05,030 as we are in an evil world. 371 00:21:06,690 --> 00:21:09,610 Now this cannot other than make us uncomfortable, 372 00:21:09,850 --> 00:21:11,930 all of us at some point at some 373 00:21:11,930 --> 00:21:12,750 stage or other. 374 00:21:14,250 --> 00:21:16,650 If it is a genuine word of the 375 00:21:16,650 --> 00:21:21,290 living God through his incarnate Son, then why 376 00:21:21,290 --> 00:21:25,690 are we not more evidently embodying our lives, 377 00:21:27,980 --> 00:21:30,600 embodying in our lives the principles of the 378 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:30,840 sermon. 379 00:21:33,220 --> 00:21:37,420 Brothers and sisters, if this is true, why 380 00:21:37,420 --> 00:21:40,480 aren't more of us in our prayer groups 381 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:41,780 from week to week? 382 00:21:44,380 --> 00:21:48,600 Why aren't more of us in the prayer 383 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:49,720 group here in the church? 384 00:21:55,080 --> 00:22:00,000 Am I honestly disclosing a reality, the reality 385 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:02,000 of things when I say that we don't 386 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:02,760 believe this? 387 00:22:07,470 --> 00:22:10,090 Is it true that God is not sufficiently 388 00:22:10,090 --> 00:22:13,630 real to us to believe that he can 389 00:22:13,630 --> 00:22:19,390 give what we cannot concoct or bring about 390 00:22:19,390 --> 00:22:20,850 by dint of our own energy? 391 00:22:21,710 --> 00:22:24,490 And there's not much value in meeting for 392 00:22:24,490 --> 00:22:24,950 prayer. 393 00:22:29,300 --> 00:22:32,720 Brother and sister, how far and how deeply 394 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:37,020 and consistently is your personal life punctuated by 395 00:22:37,020 --> 00:22:40,760 heaven-reaching prayer from day to day? 396 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:45,980 You see, the fact of the matter is 397 00:22:45,980 --> 00:22:46,260 this. 398 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:50,140 Call ourselves evangelicals, call yourselves Presbyterians or Baptists 399 00:22:50,140 --> 00:22:51,780 or Anglicans or United, whatever. 400 00:22:53,810 --> 00:22:55,950 So many of these titles throw dust into 401 00:22:55,950 --> 00:22:56,550 our eyes. 402 00:22:56,550 --> 00:22:59,970 The point is, do we know God? 403 00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:11,040 And if we do not know God sufficiently 404 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:15,420 to do commerce with him in prayer, on 405 00:23:15,420 --> 00:23:23,220 some level there is something radically, radically, radically 406 00:23:23,220 --> 00:23:23,720 wrong. 407 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:26,560 It doesn't matter how well you sing. 408 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:28,160 It doesn't matter how often you come to 409 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:28,440 church. 410 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:30,340 It doesn't matter how much you read your 411 00:23:30,340 --> 00:23:31,820 Bible or talk about the Savior. 412 00:23:31,820 --> 00:23:34,240 If this is not true, brothers and sisters, 413 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,620 we are up a side alley somewhere. 414 00:23:47,950 --> 00:23:49,970 James puts it as bluntly as this. 415 00:23:50,130 --> 00:23:52,270 And James, you remember, in the New Testament, 416 00:23:52,770 --> 00:23:54,290 can be terribly blunt. 417 00:23:55,770 --> 00:23:57,790 But he says it as bluntly as this. 418 00:23:57,830 --> 00:23:59,730 You do not have, he says, because you 419 00:23:59,730 --> 00:24:01,390 do not ask God. 420 00:24:03,830 --> 00:24:05,350 And then he has a second thought which 421 00:24:05,350 --> 00:24:06,150 he adds to that. 422 00:24:06,230 --> 00:24:10,620 He says, when you do ask, you do 423 00:24:10,620 --> 00:24:11,380 not receive. 424 00:24:12,300 --> 00:24:12,920 Huh? 425 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,020 Because you ask with wrong motives that you 426 00:24:18,020 --> 00:24:20,580 may spend what you get on your pleasures. 427 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:25,940 Is it true that the church of Jesus 428 00:24:25,940 --> 00:24:30,300 Christ is impoverished of power to live the 429 00:24:30,300 --> 00:24:33,000 kind of life required by the King of 430 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:33,400 the Kingdom? 431 00:24:33,940 --> 00:24:36,800 Because we do not really ask and really 432 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:37,920 seek and really not. 433 00:24:42,930 --> 00:24:45,390 Jesus requires of us to do this and 434 00:24:45,390 --> 00:24:47,450 to do so perseveringly. 435 00:24:48,530 --> 00:24:49,010 Perseveringly. 436 00:24:53,290 --> 00:24:55,670 The prophet Jeremiah had said long ago, and 437 00:24:55,670 --> 00:24:57,970 I'm sure it sounded almost too good to 438 00:24:57,970 --> 00:25:00,330 be true to most of the early believers. 439 00:25:00,830 --> 00:25:03,410 He had said, you will seek me and 440 00:25:03,410 --> 00:25:04,770 find me. 441 00:25:05,270 --> 00:25:06,590 This is in the name of the Lord. 442 00:25:07,170 --> 00:25:09,670 When you seek me with all your heart. 443 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:13,720 How much of our heart is in our 444 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:14,180 prayers? 445 00:25:15,060 --> 00:25:16,880 I'm sorry we have to come down to 446 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:18,520 this, but you know it's necessary. 447 00:25:19,660 --> 00:25:22,940 There is no greater tragic in the history 448 00:25:22,940 --> 00:25:24,280 of the church and the life of the 449 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:25,780 church than just lip praying. 450 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:31,840 The heart is the source of prayer. 451 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:35,880 And if it does not come from the 452 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:38,020 heart and with the heart as well as 453 00:25:38,020 --> 00:25:40,980 the mind and the dedication of body, soul, 454 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:43,200 and spirit, then it's no real prayer. 455 00:25:47,120 --> 00:25:50,200 How much real prayer marks our personal life. 456 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,840 You know, someone, I think it's Dr. D 457 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:57,640 .A. Carson, whom we've had speaking in this 458 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:00,440 pulpit on more than one occasion, has written 459 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:01,180 these words. 460 00:26:03,100 --> 00:26:05,740 The Western world is not characterized by prayer. 461 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,620 By and large, to our unspeakable shame, even 462 00:26:09,620 --> 00:26:12,420 genuine Christians in the West are not characterized 463 00:26:12,420 --> 00:26:13,440 by prayer. 464 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:15,860 And notice what he's saying. 465 00:26:15,940 --> 00:26:17,660 He doesn't say that people don't pray, but 466 00:26:17,660 --> 00:26:19,720 we're not characterized by prayer. 467 00:26:20,260 --> 00:26:23,920 People wouldn't say about us, their life is 468 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:25,620 characterized by prayer. 469 00:26:26,100 --> 00:26:28,260 That's the outstanding mark of their lives. 470 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:32,900 Our environment, says Dr. Carson, loves hustle and 471 00:26:32,900 --> 00:26:33,400 bustle. 472 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:37,300 Smooth organization and powerful institutions. 473 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:40,380 Human self-confidence and human achievement. 474 00:26:40,380 --> 00:26:42,160 I can do it, you know. 475 00:26:42,420 --> 00:26:43,260 We can do it. 476 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:44,520 I've got it in me. 477 00:26:44,620 --> 00:26:46,260 That's the attitude, that's the philosophy. 478 00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:50,940 Human achievement, new opinions, novel schemes. 479 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:56,940 And the Church of Jesus Christ has conformed 480 00:26:56,940 --> 00:26:59,660 so thoroughly to this environment that it is 481 00:26:59,660 --> 00:27:01,960 often difficult to see how it differs in 482 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:04,660 these matters from contemporary paganism. 483 00:27:05,460 --> 00:27:07,940 There are, of course, exceptions, but I am 484 00:27:07,940 --> 00:27:09,640 referring to what is characteristic. 485 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:13,440 Our low spiritual ebb is directly traceable to 486 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:17,560 the flickering feebleness of our prayers. 487 00:27:19,660 --> 00:27:20,820 And that is so. 488 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:25,140 He who gave us eternal life can alone 489 00:27:25,140 --> 00:27:29,440 sustain it and enable us to achieve our 490 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:29,900 calling. 491 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,040 You see, let's put it like this now. 492 00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:33,760 Let's relate it to its context. 493 00:27:34,580 --> 00:27:38,820 If we would produce the truly Christian character 494 00:27:38,820 --> 00:27:44,300 outlined in the Beatitudes, being poor in spirit 495 00:27:44,300 --> 00:27:46,740 and so forth, if we would produce the 496 00:27:46,740 --> 00:27:51,320 truly Christian character enunciated there, we must persistently 497 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:53,380 ask, seek and knock. 498 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:57,780 If we would be able to count ourselves 499 00:27:57,780 --> 00:28:00,860 blessed when men persecute us for righteousness sake, 500 00:28:01,620 --> 00:28:04,340 or enacting a salt and light in society, 501 00:28:04,340 --> 00:28:10,140 in the conquest of murder and adultery at 502 00:28:10,140 --> 00:28:13,580 their source within our own hearts or imaginations, 503 00:28:15,180 --> 00:28:19,280 in building society on truthfulness with our word 504 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:21,940 as our bond, or if we would not 505 00:28:21,940 --> 00:28:25,020 only regulate our acts of revenge but have 506 00:28:25,020 --> 00:28:28,060 love for our enemies, or if we would 507 00:28:28,060 --> 00:28:30,900 give to the needy, pray and fast without 508 00:28:30,900 --> 00:28:34,480 hypocrisy, lay up treasures in heaven while we 509 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:37,100 refuse to worry about anything because we have 510 00:28:37,100 --> 00:28:41,460 such a wonderful Heavenly Father who even has 511 00:28:41,460 --> 00:28:43,400 his mind upon the sparrow's fore. 512 00:28:46,090 --> 00:28:49,630 If we would overcome our censorious spirit while 513 00:28:49,630 --> 00:28:53,010 still maintain a judicious care to distinguish between 514 00:28:53,010 --> 00:28:56,490 truth and falsehood, right and wrong, then we 515 00:28:56,490 --> 00:29:00,770 must see Jesus' word here as providing the 516 00:29:00,770 --> 00:29:01,190 means. 517 00:29:06,220 --> 00:29:09,600 This word here is wrapped up with the 518 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:09,880 sermon. 519 00:29:09,980 --> 00:29:11,240 The sermon is not concluded. 520 00:29:11,620 --> 00:29:14,640 It's the last verse, verse 12, that concludes 521 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:16,700 the body of the teaching and then from 522 00:29:16,700 --> 00:29:18,700 there on Jesus is telling people, now you 523 00:29:18,700 --> 00:29:21,080 enter in here, enter in through the straight 524 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:22,200 gate and so forth. 525 00:29:22,460 --> 00:29:24,100 Many of you call me Lord, Lord, but 526 00:29:24,100 --> 00:29:24,560 you're not. 527 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:26,460 And he has something along those lines. 528 00:29:26,660 --> 00:29:28,120 And then he talks about building on the 529 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:29,160 sand or on the rock. 530 00:29:29,780 --> 00:29:31,840 But you see all the rest is application. 531 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:35,840 He has inbuilt this teaching into the body 532 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:37,780 of his sermon as if to say, this 533 00:29:37,780 --> 00:29:39,080 is how to do it. 534 00:29:43,250 --> 00:29:44,430 And I want to say to you this 535 00:29:44,430 --> 00:29:46,290 morning, my friend, if it was the last 536 00:29:46,290 --> 00:29:48,610 thing I ever said on earth, I believe 537 00:29:48,610 --> 00:29:53,290 that this is the primary priority for God's 538 00:29:53,290 --> 00:29:55,970 people in every age, but especially in ours. 539 00:30:02,060 --> 00:30:04,040 Neither must we be put off track as 540 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:10,060 it is said here by Jesus because it 541 00:30:10,060 --> 00:30:12,180 might appear to us that some people get 542 00:30:12,180 --> 00:30:13,600 on quite well without praying. 543 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:15,600 Don't make that mistake. 544 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:18,040 You can never judge how people are getting 545 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:20,120 on until they stand before the judgment seat 546 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:20,540 of God. 547 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:21,680 Only then will you know. 548 00:30:22,980 --> 00:30:24,840 You must never judge a book by the 549 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,400 first few chapters, only in the light of 550 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:28,320 the last chapter. 551 00:30:31,590 --> 00:30:33,690 It is true, of course, that many natural 552 00:30:33,690 --> 00:30:35,930 gifts are given by God the creator to 553 00:30:35,930 --> 00:30:39,350 his creatures without their ever asking him. 554 00:30:39,350 --> 00:30:41,310 We've been celebrating some of them this morning. 555 00:30:42,010 --> 00:30:43,450 Who asked for this lovely sunshine? 556 00:30:44,610 --> 00:30:45,590 You didn't, I didn't. 557 00:30:48,510 --> 00:30:49,790 Many things are given to us. 558 00:30:49,890 --> 00:30:52,890 One writer illustrates such gifts in terms of 559 00:30:52,890 --> 00:30:55,610 the harvest, the gift of a child or 560 00:30:55,610 --> 00:30:57,270 children to a home, food. 561 00:30:57,970 --> 00:30:59,730 And our Lord has already referred to the 562 00:30:59,730 --> 00:31:01,010 rainfall and to the sunshine. 563 00:31:01,230 --> 00:31:03,530 God causes his sun to shine upon the 564 00:31:03,530 --> 00:31:05,510 just and the unjust alike. 565 00:31:05,730 --> 00:31:07,350 And we don't ask for them, neither do 566 00:31:07,350 --> 00:31:09,290 we thank him for them very often. 567 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,560 But in spiritual matters it is otherwise. 568 00:31:17,260 --> 00:31:20,020 Here God bids us ask him for our 569 00:31:20,020 --> 00:31:20,600 needs. 570 00:31:21,340 --> 00:31:23,640 And scripture goes so far as to indicate 571 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:26,420 that we lack some things, as James says, 572 00:31:26,620 --> 00:31:28,200 because we do not ask. 573 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:30,880 Let me quote from John Stott here. 574 00:31:31,860 --> 00:31:35,280 He says, God's redemption gifts are different from 575 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:36,300 his natural gifts. 576 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:41,040 God does not bestow salvation on all alike, 577 00:31:42,700 --> 00:31:47,760 but, to quote, bestows his riches upon all 578 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:49,920 who call on him. 579 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,680 For everyone who calls upon the name of 580 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:54,720 the Lord will be saved. 581 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,180 Romans 10, 12 and 13. 582 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:01,020 The same applies to post-salvation blessings, says 583 00:32:01,020 --> 00:32:01,640 John Stott. 584 00:32:02,380 --> 00:32:04,900 The good things which Jesus says the Father 585 00:32:04,900 --> 00:32:09,140 gives his children, it is not material blessings 586 00:32:09,140 --> 00:32:12,480 that he's referring to here, but spiritual blessings, 587 00:32:12,580 --> 00:32:16,340 daily forgiveness, deliverance from evil, peace, the increase 588 00:32:16,340 --> 00:32:17,860 of faith, hope and love. 589 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:21,600 In fact, the indwelling work of the Holy 590 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:25,880 Spirit as the comprehensive blessing of God, which 591 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:29,120 is how Luke renders good things, Luke 11, 592 00:32:29,380 --> 00:32:30,100 13. 593 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:32,300 What is Stott saying? 594 00:32:32,540 --> 00:32:33,860 What he's saying is this. 595 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:37,720 In spiritual matters God quickens us to life 596 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:40,080 and he says, Now look, trust me, not 597 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:43,200 just to live by faith, ask me, seek 598 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:43,500 me. 599 00:32:43,860 --> 00:32:46,040 And if I do not answer you immediately, 600 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:48,460 keep on seeking, keep on asking. 601 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:50,080 I have a good reason for not giving 602 00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:50,820 at that moment. 603 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:53,420 But you are to seek, you are to 604 00:32:53,420 --> 00:32:55,380 ask, you are to knock, you are to 605 00:32:55,380 --> 00:32:55,680 wait. 606 00:32:56,860 --> 00:32:59,600 They that wait upon the Lord shall renew 607 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:01,840 their strength, they shall mount up with wings 608 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:02,280 as eagles. 609 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:04,060 And you see, we've got such an arrogant 610 00:33:04,060 --> 00:33:06,620 view of ourselves, we sometimes fall on our 611 00:33:06,620 --> 00:33:08,720 knees, even if we kneel, most of us 612 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:09,400 sit to pray. 613 00:33:11,060 --> 00:33:13,140 But even if we kneel, we think that 614 00:33:13,140 --> 00:33:15,240 the Almighty, the moment He's heard what we've 615 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:17,120 asked, He's got to come right down and 616 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:18,780 do it, there and then, just as we 617 00:33:18,780 --> 00:33:22,800 ask, we expect Him to be at our 618 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:23,460 beck and call. 619 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:26,480 He says, listen, sometimes I may not give 620 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:31,520 you what you ask immediately, but I know 621 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:32,180 what I'm doing. 622 00:33:32,980 --> 00:33:34,080 Keep on asking. 623 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:40,400 You're very dwelling around my throne and coming 624 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:43,460 into my courts and breathing the atmosphere of 625 00:33:43,460 --> 00:33:45,900 the heavenly throne, that in and of itself 626 00:33:45,900 --> 00:33:46,640 will do you good. 627 00:33:48,970 --> 00:33:51,030 But in due course you shall have, that's 628 00:33:51,030 --> 00:33:52,870 the promise, ask and it shall be given 629 00:33:52,870 --> 00:33:53,130 you. 630 00:33:53,730 --> 00:33:55,610 Seek and you will find, knock and it 631 00:33:55,610 --> 00:33:56,150 will be opened. 632 00:33:56,150 --> 00:33:59,510 I cannot, I cannot go back on the 633 00:33:59,510 --> 00:34:00,910 word of my Son. 634 00:34:06,780 --> 00:34:08,699 There remains one other matter and I conclude 635 00:34:08,699 --> 00:34:09,120 with it. 636 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:11,400 It would be my second point, but I'm 637 00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:12,400 only going to refer to it. 638 00:34:13,679 --> 00:34:16,280 Our all-excellent Father. 639 00:34:18,260 --> 00:34:21,739 You see, what makes this more feasible and 640 00:34:21,739 --> 00:34:24,120 more hopeful to us is this. 641 00:34:25,790 --> 00:34:27,699 It's the kind of Father to whom we 642 00:34:27,699 --> 00:34:28,020 come. 643 00:34:31,429 --> 00:34:34,989 It makes our coming, our failure to come 644 00:34:34,989 --> 00:34:38,130 a very heinous thing, a very grievous thing. 645 00:34:39,810 --> 00:34:42,489 But what gilds the promise of our Lord 646 00:34:42,489 --> 00:34:44,489 with gold is this, that we come to 647 00:34:44,489 --> 00:34:45,230 such a Father. 648 00:34:45,570 --> 00:34:46,969 And listen to how Jesus put it. 649 00:34:47,449 --> 00:34:49,250 Which of you, He says, if his son 650 00:34:49,250 --> 00:34:51,150 asks for bread, we'll give him a stone. 651 00:34:51,870 --> 00:34:53,810 Or if he asks for a fish, we'll 652 00:34:53,810 --> 00:34:54,949 give him a snake. 653 00:34:56,910 --> 00:34:58,130 Then he moves. 654 00:34:59,130 --> 00:35:05,110 If you then, though you are evil, know 655 00:35:05,110 --> 00:35:07,250 how to give good gifts to your children, 656 00:35:07,890 --> 00:35:14,470 how much more will your heavenly Father give 657 00:35:14,470 --> 00:35:17,450 good gifts to those who ask Him? 658 00:35:19,650 --> 00:35:21,070 Now just take it in briefly. 659 00:35:22,270 --> 00:35:25,510 The illustration comes from ordinary life and it's 660 00:35:25,510 --> 00:35:28,470 too simple to need any comment. 661 00:35:28,470 --> 00:35:30,670 Nevertheless, I'm just going to say this much 662 00:35:30,670 --> 00:35:31,210 about it. 663 00:35:32,410 --> 00:35:35,490 Which of you fathers or mothers would, if 664 00:35:35,490 --> 00:35:37,790 your child came in and said, Look, I'm 665 00:35:37,790 --> 00:35:38,190 hungry. 666 00:35:39,430 --> 00:35:41,790 I want some bread or I want some 667 00:35:41,790 --> 00:35:45,430 toast or I want something to quench my 668 00:35:45,430 --> 00:35:46,890 hunger, to deal with my hunger. 669 00:35:47,710 --> 00:35:49,250 Which of you would go and look for 670 00:35:49,250 --> 00:35:50,750 a stone and put it in his hand? 671 00:35:55,420 --> 00:35:57,080 I don't think anyone here would do that. 672 00:35:59,580 --> 00:36:01,180 Or if he asked for a fish, would 673 00:36:01,180 --> 00:36:02,580 you give him a snake? 674 00:36:05,770 --> 00:36:09,030 Would you give him something useless, harmful like 675 00:36:09,030 --> 00:36:13,230 a stone or unlikable and harmless as a 676 00:36:13,230 --> 00:36:13,650 snake? 677 00:36:14,770 --> 00:36:15,490 Might we? 678 00:36:18,980 --> 00:36:19,960 Well, now look, he says. 679 00:36:21,180 --> 00:36:23,620 Don't impugn that kind of thing to your 680 00:36:23,620 --> 00:36:24,680 father in heaven. 681 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:26,160 He knows what you want. 682 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:29,660 And his son has told you, Ask and 683 00:36:29,660 --> 00:36:30,260 it will be given. 684 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:31,640 You seek and you shall find. 685 00:36:32,020 --> 00:36:33,620 Knock and it shall be opened. 686 00:36:35,620 --> 00:36:38,720 Don't impugn your father as revealed in his 687 00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:39,120 son. 688 00:36:39,540 --> 00:36:41,000 Don't impugn his character. 689 00:36:45,300 --> 00:36:47,620 And so our Lord gives us a conviction 690 00:36:47,620 --> 00:36:50,540 upon which we may launch out into each 691 00:36:50,540 --> 00:36:51,080 new day. 692 00:36:51,660 --> 00:36:54,000 If you then, though you are evil. 693 00:36:54,980 --> 00:36:57,040 His point is not to prove the depravity 694 00:36:57,040 --> 00:36:58,920 of the race here, but he's referring to 695 00:36:58,920 --> 00:36:59,900 it as a matter of fact. 696 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:01,500 We're all evil. 697 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:03,420 The best parent has got sin in his 698 00:37:03,420 --> 00:37:04,740 heart or her heart. 699 00:37:04,740 --> 00:37:08,700 If you then, though you are evil, nevertheless 700 00:37:08,700 --> 00:37:11,420 know how to give good gifts to your 701 00:37:11,420 --> 00:37:17,360 children, because of paternal sympathy and so forth. 702 00:37:17,900 --> 00:37:20,480 If you know how to give good gifts 703 00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:27,840 to your children, how much more will your 704 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:30,580 father in heaven, not only because he's a 705 00:37:30,580 --> 00:37:34,320 heavenly being, but because there's no sin in 706 00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:38,180 him, no evil in him, and no evil 707 00:37:38,180 --> 00:37:40,040 desire for any of his children. 708 00:37:40,900 --> 00:37:43,960 More than that, let's put the positive, because 709 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:45,660 he is the God. 710 00:37:45,700 --> 00:37:50,860 He is the compassionate, almighty, all-wise, all 711 00:37:50,860 --> 00:37:52,820 -good, gracious God. 712 00:37:53,060 --> 00:37:55,280 He is because he is the God. 713 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:57,740 He is and because particularly he has made 714 00:37:57,740 --> 00:38:01,420 you his child, and he is your father. 715 00:38:02,220 --> 00:38:06,400 How much more will your father in heaven 716 00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:11,640 give good gifts, even the Holy Spirit, which 717 00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:14,760 is another way of saying, of giving himself. 718 00:38:17,970 --> 00:38:19,610 You can't give more than yourself. 719 00:38:21,250 --> 00:38:26,310 Of giving himself to those that ask him. 720 00:38:32,380 --> 00:38:33,700 Now do you see the picture? 721 00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:37,680 You say the Sermon on the Mount is 722 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:38,420 not practicable. 723 00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:41,520 I challenge you to say that again with 724 00:38:41,520 --> 00:38:42,640 these words before you. 725 00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:44,860 What's gone wrong is this. 726 00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:47,160 We've not learned to pray. 727 00:38:50,380 --> 00:38:51,680 We've learned everything else. 728 00:38:53,300 --> 00:38:54,720 We're marvelous at sports. 729 00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:56,220 This is the day to say it, isn't 730 00:38:56,220 --> 00:38:56,400 it? 731 00:38:58,950 --> 00:39:01,270 Oh my, we can lick the New Yorkers. 732 00:39:02,990 --> 00:39:05,030 Even I have some excitement out of that. 733 00:39:05,230 --> 00:39:06,390 I'm sorry, you Americans. 734 00:39:06,990 --> 00:39:08,390 I know there are some here. 735 00:39:08,410 --> 00:39:10,090 You don't mind me saying that this morning. 736 00:39:11,490 --> 00:39:14,470 You know, we're marvelous in the world of 737 00:39:14,470 --> 00:39:16,770 finance, in the world of commerce, in the 738 00:39:16,770 --> 00:39:17,490 world of business. 739 00:39:17,490 --> 00:39:19,550 We have our experts, and we're proud of 740 00:39:19,550 --> 00:39:19,750 them. 741 00:39:22,210 --> 00:39:23,850 But I tell you, my friend, unless you 742 00:39:23,850 --> 00:39:30,270 can pray, nothing really matters in life or 743 00:39:30,270 --> 00:39:31,110 in death. 744 00:39:32,190 --> 00:39:34,470 And one day you and I will be 745 00:39:34,470 --> 00:39:38,710 cornered by disease and death and unless you 746 00:39:38,710 --> 00:39:43,370 have learned to pray, you will be miserable, 747 00:39:44,030 --> 00:39:45,810 even if you're redeemed. 748 00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:57,300 A compelling inducement to pray. 749 00:39:58,700 --> 00:40:00,060 Now you see why I give it that 750 00:40:00,060 --> 00:40:00,380 title? 751 00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:03,320 If you're a child of God, I believe 752 00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:04,560 you know what that means. 753 00:40:05,820 --> 00:40:10,660 This text says to you, if you are 754 00:40:10,660 --> 00:40:14,500 who you are, you ought to be praying, 755 00:40:16,870 --> 00:40:19,830 you ought to be asking, you ought to 756 00:40:19,830 --> 00:40:22,450 be seeking, you ought to be knocking the 757 00:40:22,450 --> 00:40:22,910 doors. 758 00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:26,920 And sooner or later, you ought to be 759 00:40:26,920 --> 00:40:27,440 receiving. 760 00:40:29,860 --> 00:40:32,860 If God is God, there ought to be 761 00:40:32,860 --> 00:40:37,900 something to manifest the genuineness of your relationship 762 00:40:37,900 --> 00:40:39,580 to him and mine. 763 00:40:42,140 --> 00:40:44,440 It was William James, the philosopher, who said, 764 00:40:46,240 --> 00:40:49,400 energy which but for prayer would be bound 765 00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:55,100 is by prayer set free and operates. 766 00:40:57,260 --> 00:40:59,540 Philosopher that he was, he saw this. 767 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:02,920 And if only you and I could see 768 00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:07,480 this, that all the power of God is 769 00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:10,360 available for us and this is the means 770 00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:11,640 whereby we draw it. 771 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:14,980 The woman at the well said to Jesus, 772 00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:17,960 you remember in John 4, when he talked 773 00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:21,620 about water in the well, she said to 774 00:41:21,620 --> 00:41:23,540 him, he says, what are you talking about 775 00:41:23,540 --> 00:41:24,120 water from? 776 00:41:24,820 --> 00:41:26,920 We're standing by the side of this well 777 00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:28,160 or sitting by the side of it, but 778 00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:29,480 you've got nothing to draw with. 779 00:41:31,060 --> 00:41:32,740 You've got nothing to draw with. 780 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:36,300 Well, she was wrong, because he could draw 781 00:41:36,300 --> 00:41:37,340 water from a rock. 782 00:41:42,620 --> 00:41:45,140 But I know many professing Christians who have 783 00:41:45,140 --> 00:41:46,220 nothing to draw with. 784 00:41:47,300 --> 00:41:48,340 It's all there. 785 00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:52,860 We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in 786 00:41:52,860 --> 00:41:55,120 the heavenly places in Christ, says Paul in 787 00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:55,740 1 Corinthians. 788 00:41:56,460 --> 00:41:59,900 And Peter adds, all things pertaining to life 789 00:41:59,900 --> 00:42:03,300 and godliness have been given to us, but 790 00:42:03,300 --> 00:42:04,220 they're not ours. 791 00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:06,040 We've nothing to draw with. 792 00:42:06,540 --> 00:42:09,800 We've not practiced the art of asking and 793 00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:11,180 seeking and knocking. 794 00:42:12,660 --> 00:42:15,360 For if we have, we cease to believe 795 00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:18,020 that God means what he says and we've 796 00:42:18,020 --> 00:42:18,620 packed up. 797 00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:21,640 I call you to come back today. 798 00:42:24,220 --> 00:42:25,380 I don't want you to think of this 799 00:42:25,380 --> 00:42:27,500 morning service as a matter of sermonizing. 800 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:31,700 I believe this can be a vital landmark 801 00:42:31,700 --> 00:42:34,160 in your experience and mine, and if it 802 00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:38,440 isn't, we should be answerable for it. 803 00:42:40,660 --> 00:42:42,680 I think it should reflect on all our 804 00:42:42,680 --> 00:42:45,280 prayer meetings, all our groups, and the whole 805 00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:48,400 life of this church, and any other church 806 00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:49,740 you may belong to. 807 00:42:51,500 --> 00:42:55,920 God grant us of his mercy that we 808 00:42:55,920 --> 00:43:01,260 may enter into the source room, the room 809 00:43:01,260 --> 00:43:07,600 wherein the gifts are imparted to those who 810 00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:10,400 wait upon our heavenly Father. 811 00:43:10,540 --> 00:43:11,160 Let us pray. 812 00:43:17,860 --> 00:43:20,400 Lord, our God, with a sense of contrition 813 00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:22,880 do we come before you in the closing 814 00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:27,660 moments of our morning's worship because we feel 815 00:43:27,660 --> 00:43:30,020 the impact of this your word upon us 816 00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:33,840 and we cannot wriggle away from it or 817 00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:34,440 out of it. 818 00:43:36,550 --> 00:43:39,030 It does speak to us. 819 00:43:41,530 --> 00:43:44,030 We accept that fact and we accept our 820 00:43:44,030 --> 00:43:48,350 guilt that we are not characterized, as one 821 00:43:48,350 --> 00:43:50,010 of your servants has said it, we are 822 00:43:50,010 --> 00:43:54,010 not characterized by prayer. 823 00:43:56,400 --> 00:43:59,700 Forgive us, O Lord, and teach us, teach 824 00:43:59,700 --> 00:44:02,280 us how to live to your glory and 825 00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:06,040 teach us how to use the weapon of 826 00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:11,140 faith with which to draw from the wells 827 00:44:11,140 --> 00:44:19,000 of salvation every day and every night of 828 00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:19,760 our lives. 829 00:44:21,590 --> 00:44:24,390 In Jesus' name, Amen.