7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are 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! 12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
- The two greatest elements of Christian truth are within the framework of “family relationship”: God is our Father, and Christians are our brothers. That is the essential truth of Christianity.
Jesus summed up EVERYTHING we really need to know:
The Great Commandment – Matt 22: 34 Love God, Love One Another
Yoda: Do or Do Not
The whole world knows how to “do not” but not how to “do”
Unregenerate man cannot “do because you love” in the purest essence of selflessness: 2 Tim 3:2–5 Rom 7:18; 3:10-18; 6:6 Jer 17:9 Gen 6:5 Titus 3:3
Love comes only from God so the ability to follow the Golden Rule of POSITIVE “do unto others” which is selfless is only possible by God’s power through regeneration
Its Not Rocket Science
People say, “I can never follow the Bible. Too many rules, too complex, too much to learn, too hard to understand”.
- Love God with all your heart
- Love other people (and show that be treating them the same way you want to be treated)
Three Reasons to Obey the Golden Rule
1 – the purpose of God demands it. Matt 22:37 James 2:8 (NKJV) Romans 13:8
2 – the promise of God demands it Matt 7:7-11
God promises to answer, give and open but it is in response to our following His Golden Rule
3- the pattern of God Matt 7:11 Rom 5:8 Ephesians 5:1
God Wants Relationship with Us
God could have just given us a list of rules, do’s and don’ts, answers to everything, and said “get on it”.
- He gives us enough truth so that we’re
responsible
- He gives us just enough mystery so that we’re dependent
- We have to have a relationship with God to flesh out the rest
- We have to have relationship with others to manifest love between us
So there is effort involved:
- We have to ask to receive (that’s relationship)
- We have to seek to find (that’s relationship)
- We have to knock to have opened (that’s relationship)
God Will Give Us What We Need
When we love God, when we love selflessly, when we follow the Golden Rule, we can be sure that God cares for us and our needs to: Matthew 6:25–34 Philippians 4:6–7, 19
Present Imperatives
Keep on asking. Keep on seeking. Keep on knocking.
- All three verbs are present ongoing commands: persistent, routine, diligent, relentless
- Ask: simple. Just ask.
- Seek: effort, purposeful, a goal of finding something
- Knock: getting someone’s attention, interrupting them, persistence (knock until someone answers).
Summary
- Love God with all your heart
- Love others as you would have them love you
- God will take care of your needs
- When you live this way: ask and receive, seek and find, knock and the door will open… God will respond like the loving Father He is.