Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Everyone who prays is bound to want to know to what kind of God they are praying.

So we want to know in what kind of atmosphere our prayers will be heard.

Are we praying to a grudging God out of whom every gift has to be squeezed and coerced?

Are we praying to a mocking God whose gifts may well be double-edged?

Are we praying to a God whose heart is so kind that he is more ready to give than we are to ask? [William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Third Ed., The New Daily Study Bible (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 2001), 311–312.]

Main Thought:

Jesus reassures His Disciples of the Father’s provision to fulfill the Law’s righteousness as they learn to lean on the Him while serving their Savior.

Sub-intro: Context & Structure

From 5:21 through 7:11, Matthew has summarized the definitive teaching of Jesus on several key areas of ethical and religious life.

Matthew construes this definitive teaching as climactic in nature (5:17–20); a more profound ethical standard could not be conceived, in Matthew’s view.

The ethic is explained in the concrete contexts of obeying the Torah (5:21–48), practicing religious duties (6:1–18), dealing with material possessions (6:19–34), relating to people (7:1–6), and praying (7:7–11).

If they have been inspired by the beneficence of their heavenly Father, disciples of the kingdom will be like him.

And as their Lord Jesus has come not to abolish but to accomplish the purpose of the law and the prophets, so the disciples must be like him.

These two themes meet in 7:12, where doing good to others (as the heavenly Father does; cf.

5:45–48) is identified as the quintessence of biblical ethics.

The general statement of 7:12 condenses the thirty-nine books of the Hebrew Bible into fifteen Greek words (cf.

Ricoeur 1990).

[On the Golden Rule, see J. Fuchs 1991; Ricoeur 1990; Theobald 1995; Topel 1998.

David L. Turner, Matthew, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 212.]

Body:

I.

The Disciples’ Plea and the Father’s Provision (Matt.

7:7-11)

A. The Principle: God’s Needy Children Can Go to Him Anytime (Mt.

7:7-8)

Stott keenly sensed the problem when he wrote: The best way to approach this problem is to remember that the promises of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount are not unconditional.

A moment’s thought will convince us of this.

It is absurd to suppose that the promise “Ask, and it shall be given you” is an absolute pledge with no strings attached; that “Knock, and it will be opened to you” is an “Open, Sesame” to every closed door without exception; and that by the waving of a prayer wand any wish will be granted and every dream will come true.

The idea is ridiculous.

It would turn prayer into magic, the person who prays into a magician like Aladdin, and God into our servant who appears instantly to do our bidding like Aladdin’s genie every time we rub our little prayer lamp.625 Stott also noted that if Jesus promised to grant every single request expressed in prayer, the wise person would never pray again because he recognizes that he lacks the insight to know what is truly best in all circumstances.

[Charles Quarles, Sermon on the Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church, NAC Studies in Bible & Theology (Published by B&H Publishing Group, Nashville, Tennessee, 2011), 297.]

1. Persistent Prayer Finds a Promise of Realization (Mt.

7:7)

  “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:” (Mt 7:7)

Note - Mt. 6:5-13 dealt with the pattern of prayer, here Jesus demonstrates the power of prayer.

Note - “...you...ye” = plural

  “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”

(Mt 18:19)

  “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”

(Mt 21:22)

  “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” (Ps 50:15)

  “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Ro 8:26–27)

  “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

(Heb 4:16)

Note - Iterative Present (x3); Divine Passive (x3).

Note - “Ask repeatedly, over and over again...seek repeatedly...knock continuously, over and over again.”

“The idea is ‘If you ask (and you should), it will be given to you.” ~Wallace, GGBB

Note - “shall be...shall...shall be” - Future = Semitic Conditional Clause that gives the results of carrying out the imperative.

The Divine Passives show that God is the One who carries out the action of fulfillment once the condition is met.

“Ask … seek … knock.”

In these words our Lord stresses the importance of prevailing prayer, which is not just a casual or thoughtless repeating of certain words.

We are bidden to ask; that is, to make our requests known to God (Phil.

4:6, 7), and if not answered at once we are to seek further by endeavoring to learn more clearly the mind of God in the matter, that we may pray with enlightened intelligence (Isa.

26:9).

Then we are to knock with that importunity which implies sincere exercise and faith which brings the answer (Luke 11:5–10).

God does answer prayer.

[H. A. Ironside, Expository Notes on the Gospel of Matthew.

(Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1948), 75–76.]

“We ask for what we wish; we seek for what we miss; we knock for that from which we feel ourselves shut out.”

[David Brown, A. R. Fausset, and Robert Jamieson, A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Matthew–John, vol.

V (London; Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited, n.d.), 47.]

  “I love them that love me; And those that seek me early shall find me.”

(Pr 8:17)

  “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

(Je 29:11–13)

  “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

(Je 33:3)

  “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, Call ye upon him while he is near:” (Is 55:6)

Illustration:

How to find the Lord:—A man said to me the other night in the inquiry-room, “Mr.

Moody, I wish you would tell me why I can’t find the Lord.”

Said I: “I can tell you why you can’t find Him.”

“Why is it?”

“Why, you haven’t sought for Him with all your heart.”

He looked at me, and said he thought he had.

“Well,” said I, “I think you haven’t; because you will surely find Him when you seek for Him with all your heart.

Now, my friend, I can tell you the day and hour you are going to be converted.”

The man looked at me, and I have no doubt thought I was a little wild.

Said I: “The Scripture tells me, ‘He that seeketh findeth.’

” It don’t take a man long to find the Lord when he makes his mind up to do it.

[Joseph S. Exell, The Biblical Illustrator: Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1952), 121.]

2. Prevailing Prayer Finds a Promise of Reception (Mt.

7:8)

  “For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

(Mt 7:8)

Note - “every one...he...him...” = singular

  “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:” (1 Jn 5:14)

  “Ask of me, And I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.”

(Ps 2:8)

  “He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, Even length of days for ever and ever.”

(Ps 21:4)

  “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.”

(Ps 27:4)

  “Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; So the Lord shall make bright clouds, And give them showers of rain, To every one grass in the field.”

(Zec 10:1)

Note - Gnomic, General, Timeless Truths

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God” (James 1:5).

Young King Solomon knew that he lacked the needed wisdom to judge Israel, so he prayed to God; and the Lord graciously answered (1 Kings 3:3ff).

If we are to have spiritual discernment, we must keep on asking God, keep on seeking His will, keep on knocking at the door that leads to greater ministry.

God meets the needs of His children.

[Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 30.]