The Good Gifts of God

Preached at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, IA on September 7, 2012

Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 7:7-11. We have been walking through the Sermon on the Mount now since January 5th, eight months. That is a long time. Granted we have taken a couple breaks along the way, but nonetheless, this has been more of a marathon than a sprint.

As we reflect on this, I want each of you to ask this question, “What seems to feed your soul better, rushing through the Bible or soaking in it?” For me, it is hands down soaking in it. The more I push into the word of God, the more it seems to push into my heart. It is amazing.

With this in mind, I want each of you to consider this as you read your Bible daily. Don’t rush through the meal, savor it. Be willing to read a verse, close your eyes, and dwell upon the implications, the power, and the truth of these words. Think about other verses that may be connected, use a cross-reference. Many of you use the ESV translation and have study Bible. Those bibles have a cross-reference that will direct you to other verses that are similar or relevant. I encourage you to take time to do so, you will not be disappointed.

Today, we are going to examine a passage that I believe will mean a great deal more to you if you have labored through the last eight months with us. We have spent week after week at the feet of Jesus listening to how to live life as a child of God. In a way it is overwhelming. It leads us to say, how can we possibly become what Jesus requires?

This text we will look at today will be like finding a cold stream after a long journey through a thick forest. It will quench the thirst that Jesus has created throughout the Sermon on the Mount. It reminds me of Isaiah 55:1

• Isaiah 55:1 – “"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters”
  
  

Today we find ourselves at those waters. So with that said, let us read our text, pray for the Spirit of God to wash over us, and drink deeply from God's Word.

• Matthew 7:7-11 - "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8For 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. 13 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
  
  

As I stated, we have labored over the Sermon on the Mount for eight months. Take a moment and flip back to chapter 5 and skim what Jesus has covered. Just take a look at the headings in your Bible: the beatitudes, salt and light, a righteousness that exceeds the Pharisees, anger, lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation, loving your enemies, giving to the needy, prayer, fasting, finances, anxiety, and dealing with the sin of others. Talk about an exhaustive list. To those who say that Bible is not relevant, they have obviously never read it. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount basically covers all of life.

However, in doing so, He sets the bar substantially high. In fact, some would argue that he sets the bar out of reach. Verses like Matthew 5:48 do not help.

• Matthew 5:48 – “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
  
  

The standard of God is perfection. If that is the case, what hope do we have? For we know that this is an impossible standard. No one is perfect.

And this is what Jesus has been leading us to throughout the Sermon on the Mount. He wants us to listen to His Words and come to one singular conclusion, I can’t do it. Jesus wants us to come to the realization that we cannot reach the bar of Holiness that is required by a Holy God. He wants us to reach the end of ourselves.

This begs the question, why can’t we achieve God’s standards? Why can’t we be good enough for God? Why can't we make ourselves not get angry, not lust, not get divorces, not get anxious, love our enemies, help to poor for the right reason, pray for the right things? Because, apart from Jesus, we are dead in our trespasses and sins. Apart from Jesus, nothing good dwells in us. Apart from Jesus, we are sinners. Apart from Jesus, we are spiritually bankrupt and have no capacity to live in accordance to His will. This is why we can't be perfect. This is why we fall short of God's way to live.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is leading us through the wilderness of our sinfulness and is creating a hunger and thirst for a righteousness that is outside ourselves. And this is when he brings us to the satisfying waters of God’s grace.

Jesus’ solution to the problem is to ask, seek and knock. Jesus tells us if ask, seek, and knock, we will receive, find, and it will be opened. So let’s start with who are we asking?

Who do we ask?

Take a look at verse 11.

• Matthew 7:11 – “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!”
  
  

When we reach the end of ourselves, Jesus tells us to turn to our Father. God is the solution to the problem. In order for us to live in accordance to God’s will, we need God’s Grace, and this is exactly how God has designed the world. This is how God designed you, to live dependent upon Him. Not just on Sunday mornings, but in every single moment of our lives. This is why we call God, not only our Father, but also our Lord. He is to be the master of our lives. In the morning, throughout the day, at night, in our jobs, in our hobbies, in our relationships, in our joys, and in our struggles. God is to be God in your life.

Now, I want to be clear about something. God is not everyone’s Father. In fact, very few people are on this planet are God's children. And I want us to understand that sitting in these chairs today does not make God your Father. Taking communion today, does not make God your Father. Being religious does not make God your Father. There is only one way that God will be your father, and that is through adoption into his family through the blood of Jesus. Therefore to drink from the waters of God's grace, you must come to the fountain of Jesus Christ. Listen to what Jesus proclaims in John 7:37-39.

• John 7:37-39 – “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
  
  

So the question I pose to you today is are you thirsty? Has your soul been longing to be satisfied? If so, then stop going to the dry and empty wells of this world and drink from the fountain of Jesus Christ. Do not miss this moment. Do not let the Gospel be proclaimed to you today, and chose to walk on by the gate of Jesus. The stakes are too high. For not only is Jesus what your heart desires, but if you fail to see the treasure that is Jesus the consequence is dire.

• Matthew 7:13-14 - "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
  
  If you chose to not accept Christ your fate is sealed. Your destiny is destruction. This destruction is not annihilation, it is eternal punishment. When you choose to walk past the narrow gate of Jesus and continue to live your life like the rest of the World you are playing Russian roulette with your soul, for their may not be a tomorrow. So I beg of you to come to the waters of Jesus and drink.
  
  

What do we receive?

If today, you do see the treasure that is Christ and repent of your sin and place your faith in Christ alone for you salvation, you are adopted into God's family. You are his son, You are his daughter, and for the first time, these words of Mathew 7 are meant for you. So let us ask, what do we, God's children, receive if we ask, seek, and knock on our father's door?

• Matthew 7:11 – “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!”
  
  

God will give us good things. What a simple, but absolutely wonderful truth. When we ask God, Our Father, what he gives us is good. Now here is the question, do you believe this? Do you believe that God gives his children good things? Really? What about cancer? What about poverty? What about a loved one dieing? What about persecution for being a Christian? Are these things good? No, they are not, they are all consequences of the brokenness of this world, and they are substantially terrible. But Jesus is not talking about these things, for they are insignificant compared to the good things of an infinite and sovereign Father. Turn with me to Romans 8

• Romans 8:28-39 - “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
  
  

Oh there is so much in here that is overwhelming good. First, if you love God, all things work together for good. That means your trial and tribulation is working for your good. As we have said before, if you are God's child, then God is 100% for you.

Second, no matter what life throws at you, if God foreknew you, he predestined you; if he predestined you, he called you; if he called you, he justified you; if he justified you, he will glorify you! This is an unbreakable chain. This means that no matter what is going on in our life, it is a light momentary affliction compared the the eternal weight of glory that is waiting for us. Our darkest days are but a grain of sand on the beach of God's eternal goodness that he will lavish upon us for all eternity.

Third, God loves us. Not with a wishy washy love, but with an unbreakable love. A love that is more powerful than anything that we may be experiencing. When the world is crashing down around you, who stands by your side and whispers I love you? The Sovereign and Almighty God of the Universe. If the infinitely powerful, holy and awesome God, our Father, loves us, then we can weather any storm of life.

So what do we receive when we ask, seek and knock? We receive the good gift of the amazing riches of God's forever grace, and it flows to us through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus is the fountainhead of the good things of God. And the water of God is sweeter than any water that has ever touched your lips, and if we pursue it we will be satisfied.

River of Love that Flows Through Us

But we are not done. There is still more. Is this where God's gifts end? Are we a reservoir of God's grace? Are our hearts to be a damn collecting God's love? No.

• Matthew 7:12 - “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
  
  

The good gifts of God that pour into our lives, must pour out onto others. The grace of God must flow to others the same way it flowed to us, unconditionally. Listen to how all these verses that we looked at today are connected. What does Paul say is Romans 8:36?

• Romans 8:36 - “As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."
  
  

The good gifts of God's love drove Paul to love others in the same way Christ did. He was willing to risk everything, including his life for the sake of the elect. Listen to what Jesus says in John 7:38.

• John 7:38 - “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
  
  

Jesus does not describe the grace of God as stale pond of water, it is a fountain that burst from your heart and rivers pour out of your life and soak everyone that comes in contact with you.

So how would I summarize what Jesus is telling us in these verse today? God is saying, when you are empty of yourself, and you come to me through my son, I will lavish you with unending rivers of my grace, so not only will you be blessed, but you will bless others. What an amazing God that we have.