Ask-Seek-Knock

Ask-Seek-Knock

Introduction

• Our portion for today is Matthew 7:7-11. However, before we go there, there’s still some more that I want to unpack from he verses prior.
• As I mentioned last week when we began our study of Matthew chapter 7, Jesus is now focussing on interpersonal relationships in His famous sermon on the mount. About how you and I, as brothers and sisters in Christ, ought to pursue that relationship with one another.
  One of the main thrusts in His sermon is that your teachers may teach you many things for many reasons (like the pharisees and scribes did), but you are bound to God’s word, not man’s word. He contrasts the popular teachings of these leaders against the Scripture and shows why they do not stand, why they are false.
  And so interpersonal relationships in Christian fellowship is simply not possible without a love for truth. If we bypass what the word of God teaches, we cannot have the fellowship that the word of God promises.
• You must understand that God’s word (even in Matthew 7) has no room for unbelievers in the fellowship of the saints. And sadly that is one of the greatest plagues in many churches, even in this city. Unbelieving members in a local church is a contradiction.
  You see, I start here this morning because there is an understanding that many people have of what it means to behave Christian. As to how we must treat one another, what we must say, and how we must say it. But the truth is that if we pursue Matthew 7 diligently, it cannot be fulfilled by good morals or decisive principles. It can only be fulfilled by one in whose heart dwells the Spirit of God because these actions are the overflow of the Christian person, not the hypocrite.
• So, when Matthew 7:1-6 talks about judging one-another, it is talking about believers engaging one another in accountability, correction and repentance. It’s your brother’s eye, not a stranger’s eye.
  • And as we engage one another this way, we are to be wary about those who claim to be our brothers and sisters. How? By being careful to watch if they trample underfoot the Gospel that you give and turn to attack you.
    Matthew 7:6 – 6 v“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
  • Now, I want you to picture this verse in your mind. Here is a man who takes all the pearls that he has, walks out to the pigsty and begins to throw them in. Tell me, who would you criticise, or who would you judge, the pigs or the man throwing the pearls.
  • So you see, this verse is not saying that we shouldn’t give the Gospel to unbelievers, because that would completely undo evangelism. However, our evangelism shouldn’t look as though we are men throwing pearls to pigs. We have to discern when to pull away, and all the more if any such circumstance were to arise within the church itself. So, if people within the church behave like pigs and dogs, they are behaving not just like unbeliever, but like the worst of the unbelievers.
  • Matthew 15:22-28 – 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
  • Why should I give you pearls, you who have trampled on the truth of God’s word with your unbelief and denial all your life?
  • 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
  • O this woman was no dog, for even the crumbs she would have with delight. This was a heart that yearned for God, and she stood the test of her faith.
  • Beloved, you will forgive my figure of speech here as I use it contextually to say that many churches are severely tempted to stay relevant to the culture by turning their pews into pigsties.
• Therefore, the church is not a community that can incorporate unbelievers in its membership. To do so would be to put yourself in a position of being someone who throws pearls to pigs. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that unbelievers are not welcome to our church services or our open meetings. But they will always remain visitors, never members.