you Matthew 7 is our text this morning. Bear
with me with my voice. I think it's just allergies.
I know it's annoying to listen to, so I'll do
the best I can. Matthew 7, we'll begin with verse
7 and end at verse 12. The word Jesus speaking
says, 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. What man is there among you who,
if his son asks for bread, will you give him
a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will you give
him a serpent? 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? Therefore,
Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to
them. For this is the law and the prophets. Let's
pray. Our gracious God, this morning, Lord, we
come and God, we have heard the word of the Lord,
Lord, written and read. And God, now would you
help us as it needs to be expounded and explained,
Lord. Father, would you give the illumination
of your Holy Spirit, Lord. Father, I realize,
Lord, this morning my voice may be a distraction.
God, would you help me? Lord, I pray that I would
preach with power, not fleshly power, but, Lord
God, the power of your spirit to unction, Lord,
that, God, you would give us, Lord, your grace
and your spirit. Lord, as we hear the word from
heaven, Lord, God, may this word take root, change
us, Lord, to be more like Christ because of what
we're hearing. God, we need you, Lord. Help us
to make much of Christ, even in our own weakness
and frailty, Lord. Would you show forth your
power? We pray this in Jesus' blessed name. Amen.
We have spent some considerable time working
our way through this masterpiece known as the
Sermon on the Mount. Really, this sermon, it
is the sermon. It is preached by the preacher.
Nothing can even come close to rivaling it. If
you talk about Matthew 5, 6, and 7, these chapters
are so well known, not just within the church,
but without the church as well. In fact, you'll
find portions of them referenced or quoted. Politicians
in various political speeches will use these
verses. But if we're not careful, we can easily
miss the big picture. What is the central point
of Christ as he's preaching this message? Well,
he's been talking about his kingdom. And he's
detailing what life in his kingdom looks like.
So the grand theme, if you will, the great subject
of this entire sermon, Matthew 5 all the way
through 7, really is the kingdom of God. Now
the kingdom of God is also known as the kingdom
of heaven. That's how Matthew references it.
It's also referenced as the kingdom of Christ.
All of those mean the exact same thing. Now there
is some confusion. In fact, there's a lot of
confusion on what the kingdom of God really is.
And I think there's some good reason for that.
When we speak of the kingdom of God, what we
mean is the rule of God, the reign, R -E -I -G
-N, the reign of God. So if I would ask you this
morning, where is Christ currently reigning?
Is he ruling over all the earth? Well, in one
sense, the answer to that would be yes. I mean,
there's no one or no thing outside of his jurisdiction.
Christ is the sovereign one. But not all the
nations, not all people, joyfully affirm his
rule. So where is Christ then recognized as king?
In his church. With the Christian. With joy,
great joy I would say, and with great enthusiasm,
we do cry out, Christ is Lord. Now when we're
saying that, we're making some also denunciations.
At the time of the writing of this, we would
say Caesar is not Lord, although Rome was a political
powerhouse. We would also say that no earthly
king today is Lord. No president is Lord. In
fact, Christ Jesus only is Lord. So when we're
talking about the kingdom of God today, currently,
we are talking really about his church. Christ
rules over his people. He rules over them primarily
in two ways. By his word and with the sacrament.
And it is in his church that he is recognized
as the great king. The word rules over us. It
gives us our marching orders. The sacraments
entrance into the community of God. And also
it has fellowship with the risen Christ. If someone
will not be obedient to the word. And they continue
in their stubborn rebellion after being confronted.
The church then brings discipline upon that person,
excommunicates them from the table of the Lord.
So he's ruling, he's ruling over his people.
But that's not the only thing that's meant by
the kingdom. When we speak of the kingdom of
God, we're also referring to the final end time
event when Christ returns and all creation will
once again joyfully, readily affirm his lordship.
One day all the nations will cry out, Christ
is Lord. Now so currently we say the kingdom
is here, but it's in seed form. But the kingdom
has not yet fully come in fruition. That awaits
a future date. So a lot of times in scripture
you see a motif. Already, but not yet. And there's
many ways that this is done. But here's one of
the ways that this is done. The kingdom is already
here. but not yet in its final form or in its
completed form. Now, how can I prove that? When,
Matt, in Luke chapter 11, Jesus said, but if
I cast out demons with the finger of God, with
the power of God, surely, now notice his wording,
the kingdom of God has come upon you. The kingdom's
here, all right? But is that what Jesus means
when he talks about the kingdom? Well, no, in
a sense, it's not yet here in its final glorious
form. Revelation 11. Then the seventh angel sounded.
There were loud voices in heaven. Well, what
were those voices saying? The kingdoms of this
world have become the kingdom, singular, of our
Lord and of his Christ. And he shall reign forever
and ever. In this great sermon then, we're starting
to see what life looks like, how the people of
God, that is, That is, the people of the new
covenant are to order their lives this side of
heaven. The kingdom's here, folks. We're in the
kingdom. It's just not yet arrived in its full,
robust, glorious form. So if we're talking about
the sermon, then this is how one is to live his
life in the kingdom of God. Because it is here
in the kingdom. Our king, Jesus Christ, he makes
demands of his people. And these demands are
inflexible. They don't change. They're not going
to be softened. And he makes difficult demands.
Let's just review some of them throughout the
past few chapters. In Matthew 5, he said the
believer is to be perfect. Verse 48, therefore
you shall be perfect. How perfect are you talking
about, Jesus? Just as your Father in heaven is
perfect. Then in Matthew 6, we are to pray, we
are to give, we are to fast, but secretly. Take
heed that you do not do your charitable deeds
before men. Take heed. Beware of that. So you
don't want to be seen by them. Otherwise, you
will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
And by the way, as we're living on this side
of earth, he says, yeah, lay up treasures. But
don't do so on earth. Lay up treasures in heaven.
Verse 20. Lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys,
where thieves do not break in and steal. Don't
live on this side of eternity. Then we are also
to live quiet lives, trusting and depending upon
our Heavenly Father. Verse 31. Therefore do not
worry, saying, what shall we eat or what shall
we drink or what shall we wear? Why not worry?
Life sometimes can be one big worry. Why not?
For after all these things, the Gentiles, these
are the pagans, these are people that don't know
God. They're all seeking those things. Every
one of them. But you, you and the kingdom. For
your heavenly father, he knows. He knows what
you need. He knows what you have. He knows what
you don't have. He knows that you need all these
things. And then we turn over to chapter 7. You
and I are to live in community with each other,
with our brothers and sisters in this kingdom
without being censorious, without being overly
strict and overly critical. We looked at this
last week, chapter 7, verse 1. Judge not, condemn
not. Credo is the word. Condemn not so that you
be not condemned. That means don't set yourself
up to be morally superior, but consider carefully
how you judge others. Why? Because on the day
of judgment, friend, you're going to be judged
by the very same standard. Don't do it. Now,
after reading all these demands, Every one of
us, just starting with the first one about being
perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. We
ought to start to despair. There ought to be
a sense of our conscience bothering us a little
bit. Who does this? It's like Paul when he's
talking about the care of all the churches and
he says, I have so much on me. Who is sufficient
for these things? I think that's how we should
feel right now when we look at the demands of
the kingdom and Christ is saying this is life
in the kingdom. We ought to be saying, but who
then is sufficient for these things? If this
is kingdom life, how can I, how can you, how
can we possibly endure? Who can do this? And
this leads to our text today. See, what we do,
we start to see our great need in being the disciples
of Christ. And we do have great need. And we
must have then great grace because there's not
one of us here this morning that on our own can
fulfill these demands. They're too lofty. They're
too high. The awareness, this awareness that
we have lack, that we have need, it drives us
onto our needs where we ask for grace, we seek
for wisdom, and we knock on the very doors of
heaven for the resources that we need to accomplish
his will. Friends, listen. There is a sense in
which we would despair that Christ, our pastor,
our shepherd, He comes to us and he says, don't
despair. Why? Because you in the kingdom, you
have a great high priest, the Lord Jesus, and
he offers his help, offers his supernatural help
to his people. Verse 7, ask. Just ask. It'll
be given. Seek. And you will find, knock and
it will be opened to you. For everyone, everyone
who asks receives and he who seeks finds and
him who knocks it's opened. That's a great promise.
But let me tell you what it's not. This is not
a blanket promise that the child of God is going
to receive everything he asked God for. This
is not the promise for selfish consumers. This
is not for people who want to consume things
upon their lusts. But there is a promise here
and it's precious. There is a promise here for
God's help and for God's empowerment to obey
all that our Lord has commanded in these three
lofty chapters. So it's an encouragement. How?
You don't have what it takes, nor do I, but we
go to God and the people of God. We go and we
ask and we seek and we knock for what? Daily
grace that is needed to be the disciple of Christ.
I can't, but he can. We feel helpless. And we
see our utter inability. And we cry out to the
Lord for grace. We cry out to the Lord for mercy.
We cry out to the Lord for his help. And this,
in our admission of need and his promise to give
it help, he's glorified that way. Because in
the kingdom, the King, the Lord Jesus Christ,
he is gracious. He is more than glad to offer
his help to the subjects who are in his kingdom.
Friends, you don't have a king that we ought
to fear going to. He's gracious. Verse 7, this
context, it is for disciples. And it's for disciples
who know they need help. It's not for independent,
self -sufficient people. It's for people who
know they don't have what it takes. Andrew Farley,
in his commentary, he says, Christ encourages
them, that is us, his disciples, to boldly ask
God for whatever they need. To seek from him
whatever they require to knock on the door of
heaven with their petitions. And if they do so,
they will find their father in heaven hearkening
to them. Amen. See, the verb tense, though, I
know, grammar nerd here, this is in the progressive
form. What does that mean? It means the disciples
are to Christ are to continue asking, continue
seeking, continue knocking. This is not a one
and done deal, in other words. Keep on. Keep
on what? Keep on asking the Lord. Keep on seeking
the Lord. Keep on knocking on the door of heaven.
Knowing, knowing, being assured, your Father
in heaven will answer. Now, we have here other
scriptures that will help us to understand there
are certain conditions that our Father in heaven
puts on prayer. Is he going to answer? Yeah.
Well, Psalm 66 says, if I regard iniquity in
my heart. Then the Lord will not hear me. 1 John
3. Whatever we ask, we receive from him. That's
a strong statement. Because, he's explaining
why. We keep his commandments and do those things
that are pleasing in his sight. What is John
saying? We don't perfectly keep them. If you
are living, friends, in the kingdom, in rebellion
to God, and there is no repentance in your life,
you can claim Matthew 7, 7. You can claim 1 John
3, 22 all day long to know of El. The word will
not hear. Moreover, the word searches our motives.
James, speaking to us, he says, you ask. That's
what we're told to do. But you don't receive.
Why? I thought if we ask, we do receive. Because
you ask amiss. You're asking wrongly. How? That
you may spend it upon your lust, upon your desires.
Lust doesn't mean sexual lust. It can mean that.
But they're desires that are contrary to the
will of God. So when he's saying, when we're
asking and we're seeking, we're knocking, the
petitions we ask of God must be according to
his will. John tells us that again, 1 John 5.
Now this is the confidence, okay, that's great,
that we have in him that if we ask anything,
now there's a clear caveat here, according to
his will, he hears us. And if we know that he
hears us, whatever we ask, because it's according
to his will, then we know that we have the petitions
that we have asked from him. Do you see how this
is starting to come together and it paints a
fuller picture for us? Far too many Christians
have sought to take a biblical text like Matthew
7 -7 as a promise and divorce it from its context.
People do it all the time. Right now, TV and
internet preachers are replete with false teachers
who are seeking to fleece the flock of God by
twisting these sacred promises. They do it all
day long every day. So the request that we're
coming to God with, it must be according to his
will. That's 1 John 5. Because he's not going
to grant anything that would hurt us, because
he's too wise. He's not going to grant anything
that would hinder us from fellowshipping with
him. But Jesus is talking to his disciples. He's
nearing the end of the sermon, and he's telling
them, you need to continue in prayer. You don't
just come one time. Why does God do that? The
Bible doesn't tell us. We have some clues. I
think one of the things is to teach us perseverance.
You are not to quit praying just because you
don't receive the answer the very first time
you ask. Persevere. If you know you're praying
and your motives are pure and it's according
to God's will and it's for his glory, keep on
asking. Keep on seeking. Keep on knocking. God
might delay in order to teach us to persevere.
It's also the way we learn to walk in faith.
Friends, not everything goes our way. And God
in his providence ensures us at times, ensures
that things don't go our way. Why? How else are
you going to learn to walk by faith and not by
sight? Keep on. Asking the Lord for something,
that implies that I lack something. So in that,
I am humbled and he's exalted. By seeking the
Lord for something, that implies he has what
I need. Again, there's lack on my part and provision
on his part. I am humbled and he is exalted.
By knocking on the door of heaven for something,
there is the implication that he alone holds
the door and he can open it as he wills. In this,
I am humbled and he is exalted. Martin Lloyd
-Jones says, the first two essentials to salvation,
and we ought to listen to that, and to rejoicing
in Christ, two essentials, the consciousness
of our need. You've got to know that you're needy.
And the consciousness of the riches of grace
that are in Christ. You know that you have lack
and he has provision. The command, this command
to ask, to seek, to knock, it causes us immediately,
because we're having to go to him, it causes
us to see ourselves as weak. But it also, at
the same time, causes us to see our king as sufficient.
You and I know that we are needy, but we see
that he is powerful and this God is glorified
in. And in verse 8 he said, here's a confidence.
Here's a confidence you have for everyone. Everyone
who asks will receive and who seeks will find.
And the one who knocks is going to be opened.
Again, when we're praying in faith according
to the will of God, God promises that you will
receive the petition you desire of him. And in
this persistence, in this perseverance, our character
begins to be refined. It becomes honed. And our
sense of dependency on him is strengthened. Our
fellowship with him is strengthened. Because
we are going to him daily for his rescuing grace.
Again, I want to quote Lloyd -Jones here. If
we really want to be men of God, he says, If
we really want to know him and to walk with him
and experience those boundless blessings which
he has to offer, we must persist in asking him
day by day. Now, it's interesting. Our Lord loves
to do this. He loves to illustrate. He's a master
teacher. So he's going to illustrate his willingness
to answer our prayers by comparison. So there's
a comparison here. Look at verses 9 through 11
here. What man is there among you? If his son
asks for bread, is he going to give him a stone?
If he's asking for some fish, is he going to
give him a snake? He said, if you then are evil
and know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more your father in heaven, how much
more will he give good gifts to his children?
So now notice what he's doing. As Jesus commonly
did, he was arguing from the lesser to the greater.
You see that all the time, that how much more,
he says. If earthly fathers who are sinful by
nature, that is, we know that we are depraved.
and you and I know how to give good gifts for
our children, and we delight to do them as good
dads, then what about the one who is truly good?
The Father in heaven, don't you think he will
know how to give good gifts, but even better?
I mean, if you know how to do it, how much better
will he do it? The scripture tells us that every
good thing, every good gift you have ever received
in your life, every good thing, Finds its source
in a good God. James 1 .17 Every good gift and
every perfect gift is from above. Now listen
friends, that means anything, anything right
today that is good in your life has come from
him. Any blessing you've received, any kindness
you've received, anything for which you give
thanks has come from God. Every good and every
perfect gift. And the problem that many of us
have, including myself, Is that many times we
don't know the heart of our father. This is something
I'm continually learning. For years I lived.
And I think this by natural default. We all become
Pharisees. We know of grace. We talk of grace.
We've even experienced grace. But we live lives
on this metric of performance. I mean I know
this. But I believe that if I obey God. God's
going to be pleased. And that's true. We do please
God by our behavior. To love him is to obey his
commandments, he said. But I also believed that
the moment that I stepped out of line, God was
there in his judgment to strike me down. I mean,
I didn't read it. It was just my natural default.
And the good news is that God has already struck
down his own son on the cross. So that I won't
ever be struck down. He punished. He did. He
didn't overlook my sin. He's never overlooked
the times I've gone out of bounds or transgressed.
We've just read about that in Isaiah 3. But he
punished his innocent son, the Lord Jesus, so
that he could become a father to his guilty son.
That is me. Christian, I want you to know this.
I would love for you to get this in your spiritual
DNA. God has loved his people. That means he
has loved you from all eternity. He never started
loving you. He has loved you from eternity. He
did not begin to love you when you were saved.
That's false. You were saved because he did love
you. It was because God so loved you, God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
son. It's because he did love his people that
he sent his son into the world to save his people.
See, our father is rich. He's rich in what? In
mercy. It's a well that never runs dry. You will
never out need God. Meaning whatever need you
have, he has more than enough mercy for it. He's
rich in grace. He's not there to strike you down.
He's rich in grace. And he delights because he
is a father who knows how to give good gifts
to his children to shower you with both his mercy
and his grace. As Psalm 23, as David ended that.
Do you remember how the Psalm 23 ends? Surely
goodness and mercy. shall follow me all the days
of my life. Why? Because God is a good God and
his son has paid for my sin debt. Surely goodness
and mercy. They're following me down and by that
word in Psalm 23, the idea is like they're running
a race and they're going to overtake you. God's
goodness and mercy will hunt you down and overtake
you. It's going to follow me all the days of
my life. But look at verse 9. So what man, he
says, if his son asks for bread, is he going
to give him a stone? Now that seems like a weird
thing to say, but there was a common bread in
that day that was a round bread, a round loaf,
and it very much resembled a stone. He said,
would any good father give to his son, who comes
to him hungry and is asking for bread, give him
that stone that looked like bread in order to
possibly hurt him or to trick him? No. No, no
one would do that. Look at verse 10. What about
if he asks for a fish? Is he going to give him
a serpent? Now here he's arguing from the absurd.
The idea is absurd. He's hungry and he's asking
for food. You're going to give him a poisonous
snake? No. The idea is ludicrous and that's the
whole point. J .C. Ryle, he says, evil and selfish
as they are by nature, that is you and I, they
do not neglect the needs of their children. Much
more will God of love and mercy attend to the
cries of those who are his children by grace.
The best father on his best day is still beset
by sin. But even though he's beset by sin, he
still knows how to give good gifts to his children.
How much more will God, who is absolutely righteous
and good and knows no sin? Verse 11. If you then,
being evil, know how to give good gifts, surely
how much more will your father give good things?
Now notice, this is, I love this. Now notice
verse 11, if you would. Everyone look at your
Bible. Notice how Jesus makes a distinction between
himself and others. He said, if you then being
evil, notice what he did not say. If we being
evil know how to give gifts, how much more our
father? No, he made a distinction. He's not included
in the evil part. He's the sinless one. But he
does say you, and he's talking to everyone there
that day, followers of his, if you being evil,
that is what? Sinful. That is depraved by nature.
Sons of Adam. And you know how to do it. How
much more? How much more will the Father who
is in heaven give good things to those who what?
Asking. I wonder, what are the good things the
Father is willing to give? What's the context?
Matthew 5, 6, and 7. The grace and the power
in order to be obedient to the commands of Christ.
Here's the thing. Whatever you need to live a
godly life before God is what he's willing to
give to you. Whatever you need. Luke 12, 32.
Jesus saying, do not fear, little flock, for
it is your father's good pleasure to give you
the kingdom. Now, let me just argue here for
a moment. Just listen to logic. If God is more
than willing to give the kingdom, is he not willing
to give us all that we need to live in that kingdom?
That's what he's saying. Romans 8 .32. He that
spared not. He did not spare his own son. He
gave the best, the unspeakable gift. Then he
delivered him up for us all. He had him crucified.
Now notice here. How shall he not then? With
him, the one that was not spared, freely give
us all things. Wonderful truth here. What Paul
is saying, what Jesus is saying in Luke, what
Jesus is saying in Matthew, if we ask, if we
seek, and if we knock for anything that is going
to be pleasing to our Father in heaven, it's
going to bring us nearer to him, or it's needed
for our ultimate perfection, then he will give
it to you. He withholds no good thing. If you
really want those things, if you're really going
to seek those things, then you've got to ask
for them. Seek for them. Knock for them. And
you will find them in your possession. Because
he's good. And he's merciful. Now then, we receive
so much from our gracious Father. We receive
so much from them that it changes us. You spend
time with God. You know what spending time with
God does? It makes you more like God. Having
received all this daily grace and this mercy
from God, we now then are going to be changed.
How should we relate to other people? Verse 12.
Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you,
do also to them. For this is the law and the
prophets. Now you and I know this is what the
golden rule. So our Lord is simplifying life
in his kingdom. The way you would like to be
treated, that's the way you need to treat other
people. Verse 12 is a summary of everything he
said in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. Do unto others as
you would have them do unto you. Now, he's not
going to give a bunch of rules. He doesn't give
a bunch of regulations because all that can lead
to disputes. You find people fighting all the
times over religious interpretation. Instead,
Jesus gives his people, there's one maxim to
live by. Just one. What is it? One maxim. This
is life in the kingdom. You treat everyone else
the way that you would want them to treat you.
That's it. And again, I like J .C. Ryle. I think
he has a great commentary. You and I are not
to deal with others as others deal with us. It
doesn't matter what they do. That's selfishness.
That's heathenism. That's for people who don't
know God. You and I are to deal with others as
we would like them to deal with us. This, friends,
is real Christianity. Think about it. If you
put this rule into practice, it would solve all
relationship problems. And I wrote that down
and I thought about it. I'm like, all relationship
problems? All of them. Think of one relationship
problem where this doesn't solve it. Treat others
the way you'd want them to treat you. It's the
law of love. That's what it's called, the law
of love. We also know it as the royal law. Jesus
said it is the law and the prophets. So how is
it the law and the prophets? Think of the law.
Think of the Decalogue. Think of the Ten Commandments.
Let's just pick one. You don't want people to
lie to you. He said, well, then don't lie to
other people. Stealing. You don't want people
stealing from you. Well, then don't steal from
anyone else. You don't want someone committing
adultery with your spouse. Then you don't commit
adultery with their spouse. Hey, I want people
to be kind and show respect to me. Well, then
you be kind and show respect to them. Hey, when
I wrong someone, I want them to forgive me. Well,
then you also offer forgiveness when someone
wrongs you. He said, that's the law and the prophets.
It sums it up. Everything the law forbid is found
in that one verse. Now, why is he saying this
is the law and the prophets? Because I believe
he had his eyes that day fixed on the scribes
and Pharisees who were experts where? In the
law and the prophets. See, they knew the law.
They made their boast in the law. And yet they
were what Jesus said, judgmental hypocrites,
far from God. They failed to discern the most
important thing. extraordinarily religious and
extraordinarily far from God. But there's a problem
here. You and I cannot consistently sustain this
type of living in our own strength. I can't do
it. Which is why we must ask and seek and knock
to be able to fill this royal wall. There's a
parallel passage in Luke, and I think it's so
helpful here. I love this parallel passage. Luke
11, 13, notice the difference here. Jesus speaking,
still Sermon on the Mount, that's Luke. If you
then, being evil, know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more would your Heavenly
Father give? Now notice, Matthew says good gifts.
Luke 11 says give the Holy Spirit to those who
ask him. I love this. God is going to give the
empowerment of the Spirit to those who come to
him asking, seeking, knocking. You and I, we
need so much, right? We need the wisdom of God.
We need the power of God. We need the love of
God to fill us. In other words, it's not what
we need, it's who we need. And who we need is
the Holy Spirit of God. What the child of God
needs to live in the kingdom of God is God. What
the child of God needs to live life in this kingdom
of God is God. We need the Holy Spirit. And Jesus
said, how much more your father's one to give
him? You're saying, well, I thought we got him
at salvation. His feeling more of him. You want
more of God? Then ask for more of God. Seek more
of God. Knock for more of God. And you will have
more of God. But where does this all begin? It
begins with a relationship with God. See, let
me just say this. You cannot ever be loving enough.
You cannot be forgiving enough. You cannot be
merciful enough. to earn your way into the kingdom
of God. That is a fool's errand. It will never
happen. Remember what Jesus said in Luke 11.
Do not fear, little flock, for it is your father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Notice
that. The father gives the kingdom. Entrance
into the kingdom is a gift. It is not earned.
It is to be received by faith. He graciously
gives the kingdom to those who will bow the knee,
trusting in his son. Who? If you're willing to
bow the knee and trust in Christ, it's a work
of God. Salvation is a gift of grace, and it
is a grace, and it's received by faith, by believing
and trusting in the promise of God, and it saves
the one who believes in Jesus. That's Paul in
Romans 3. So what? So what's this mean? Today,
this is the word of God. It says salvation is
here. The day of salvation is here. That means
the door of salvation is wide open. God has withheld
his judgment. Judgment has not fallen yet. The
day of salvation is here. And God does offer
the kingdom. He does. It's a legitimate offer
to anyone who will understand his need and come
to his son in faith. If he comes to his son asking,
seeking, and knocking. He receives and he finds
and the doors opened. If you have received the
gift of eternal life, if God has awakened you
by his grace and shown you Christ, he calls you,
his people, to a higher plane. That's what this
whole sermon's about. Everything's about it.
Loving others and doing unto them what we would
have them doing to us is what the kingdom of
God is. Looks like. It's not the way into the
kingdom. That's all of grace. And it's all of
grace by the way. Even afterwards. But it is
the ethic. The way. Of the kingdom. And this
is what Jesus is going to say. And next week
we're going to see. That not everyone who hears
this understands it. In fact he says if you don't
press your way into it. Because there's a wide
door. That will lead to judgment. Friends this
is. The gracious words of our God. We're hearing
from our king today that this is his kingdom.
But to you, to the people of God assembled, don't
you want to commune with him? Don't you desire
to fellowship with him? Well, he's also made
provision for that. It's the table of the Lord
where he offers himself. We eat his body. We
drink his blood, the Bible says. Not corporally.
We know where that's not turning into flesh and
blood. But there is a mystical union there. There's
a spiritual union that takes place. And we are
invited into the fellowship of the Lord to commune
with him by God's grace. He gives us himself
today. And this is what is so glorious about
the worship of our God and King. Our God does
it all. And we here who have received it, come,
come weak, come beggarly, come needy, ask, seek,
knock. And he's there. And today, if you don't
know Christ, I do stand and say this by the authority
of the word of God. Jesus said, all who are weary
and are heavy laden, come to me. Come to me.
He said, you'll find rest into your soul. So
I say today, if the Lord has opened your eyes
to your sin and show you your need, confess Christ.
Confess him as Lord and King. And then I'd love
to talk to you afterwards about what that means.
Let's pray. Father, we trust you this morning,
Lord. God, you have been so gracious. Lord, your
word is rich. Lord, we do eat it. Lord, it's
nourishment. It nourishes our soul. God, it brings
peace. It brings conviction. Lord, as we have
heard the word, Lord, we want to expose our lives
to its judgment upon us, Lord, for we will be
judged by the Lord.