Month: March 2018

19. Receive, Find, Opened

 Matthew 7:7-8 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

 Luke 11:9-10 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh reeiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and t him that knocketh it shall be opened.

 Jesus promises that the Father will answer prayer; the only condition mentioned here is that one must pray: if you ask, then you will receive; if you seek, then you will find; if you knock, then it will be opened. Asking, seeking and knocking brings results; these three commands are metaphorical ways of saying: “Pray!” Perhaps the implication signifies persistent prayer and a relatively constant or often prayer and not giving up until an answer is given. We see the picture of a beggar begging and rooting around and knocking on the door until it is opened.

Praying is a necessary precondition to receiving. God wants to answer prayer and provide for needs in abundance, but He still wants His children to ask and not become faint; don’t give up unless God changes your mind about what you are asking for. Keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking until…. This seems to contradict Jesus words in Matthew 6:8: “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” On the contrary, these words do not discourage us from praying but rather encourage us to prayer more urgently and more often: He promises to listen and answer our prayers. Because of a promise like this we are more eager to pray. I believe He wants us to pray, even though He already knows what we are going to ask, because He wants a personal relationship with us; He also wants us to know where it all comes from, that we live with a heart of gratitude for abundant blessings.

God does not answer prayer because the prayers are so good (insistent, persistent, fervent, intense, sincere, unselfish, theologically or Biblically correct), but the Father hears prayer because He is good, loves us dearly, promises to hear us and because Jesus gave us access to the throne of grace. God’s Word is abundant and clear on the subject of answering prayer. To doubt this promise would be to doubt God’s Word and so to doubt God. “Fear not, I am with you; Doubt not, I am telling you.”

18. Feed and Clothe

 Matthew 6:26, 30, 33

…feedeth them…clothe you…But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

 This is a conditional promise that needs our attention to the condition as well as the promise. If you seek first the kingdom of God, then these things (food and clothing) shall be added to you. “Seeking first the kingdom” is the key thought: keep the things of God and His invisible kingdom prioritized as first in your thoughts and cares. Your connection to the kingdom needs to take precedence over anxieties and cares about what to eat and drink and wear. Food and clothing is essential to life and survival, but that is physical life only; living also includes the spiritual side of life wherein a created human connects with God and His life. “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” [v. 25].

Jesus is warning His believers not to become distracted by the things and cares of the world and not to let the worries and anxieties about physical life crowd out the attention that needs to be paid to God and His life and His reign. In place of worry seek the kingdom, that is, pray to God and listen to His Word: then the promise is that God will take of your needs (food and clothing) for physical life. This is a wonderful promise because it frees us from worry and anxiety; a life freed from worry is healthy for both body and mind. Let God hear your prayers and take care of your needs to provide everything vital for life and health. The added benefit is that we will feel better in every way by focusing on the Lord and His mercies; feeling good is not a sin: it is a blessing to be enjoyed and a promise to be believed.

When we seek first the kingdom of God He will see to it that everything else we need for this body and this life is provided. God is so gracious and merciful that He will add all these things for His children because He loves them; but our enjoyment of God’s life and blessing is greatly enhanced when anxious cares and nervous worries are removed from our thoughts. The child of God learns to turn worries into prayers; then he listens to God and watches what He is doing: the Lord provides. Life is good! Yes, but also it can be said: life is better.

17. Forgive

 Matthew 6:14

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

This is a conditional promise: if you forgive, then your Father will forgive you. The condition of forgiving does not cause God to forgive, for God unconditionally forgives all people who ever lived on earth. The condition (the “if”) is the death of Christ on the Cross: this guarantees the forgiveness of sins from God. The forgiveness from the Father is not forced on people but all the people do not receive it; God forgives but they don’t have it; and if it is not received or believed then those people are not forgiven.

It is faith that receives; if faith is not present forgiveness is not received. It is not that God would not forgive; it is that the people would not receive it by faith. And one way we can discern whether a person believes and receives: Does he in turn forgive others when he is trespassed against? This is evidence. When we are forgiven such a great and unpayable debt our heart is overwhelmed and changed so much that we are willing and eager to forgive others. The forgiveness one gives is the evidence that he has truly received the forgiveness of the Father; in other words, he believes. It is extremely difficult, perhaps impossible, for an unbeliever who has not appreciated and received forgiveness to genuinely forgive the one who sins against him; for the believer it is possible.

The promise of forgiveness from the Father has a real, not imaginary, power to change lives and hearts and minds. Forgiveness is not mere ritual or form, but it reaches deep into the center of the sinner’s being and turns him around and makes profound changes. Vengeance, getting even, keeping score, wanting justice, not speaking to the offender, avoiding interaction, or even wishing harm are all thoughts, words and actions that the Christian does not entertain. This is change!

16. Open Reward

 Matthew 6:4, 6, 18 

That thine alms may be in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which is in secret shall reward thee openly.

That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

 Giving, praying, and fasting are three representative examples out of many outwardly visible religious activities or good works that the believer may practice openly and hypocritically to be seen by others, or he may do these actions secretly without drawing attention to himself. The point is how the deed is done and with what motivation; not what is the activity, but what is the attitude of the heart?

The key words are “in secret” and “openly.” The Christian is not concerned with how many people know what we are doing so that others may think well of us. The secret part of the activity is not to be ashamed of Christ, but it is rather that the Christian just lives his life in service to God and others and does not care who gets the credit or if it is noticed at all.

The hypocrite who wants to make sure others know he is praying or giving or doing any kind of good work is doing it for himself, to be recognized, noticed, honored, and thought well of by the world. Jesus says he has a reward for that, and their reward of being noticed is all they will get.

The quiet and sincere believer does things unselfishly, living for others and serving God and people. He does no good thing from any other motivation than faith in Christ and love of God; he does not look for any reward, for a truly good work is not by definition done for personal advantage. But God notices and keeps accounts and He will make sure to reward openly. The sincere believer may enjoy the rewards but not notice the cause and effect connection. The truth is that life simply goes better with more joy and peace for him. This is reward that comes “openly,” that is, his life is affected positively in this world as consequences of obedience and blessings of grace. God gives to the giver and answers the one who prays.

15. Children of the Father

 Matthew 5:44-45 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

 Luke 6:35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and you shall be children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

 The conditional promise is that we shall be children of the Father. In the context, “children of God” is a metaphor meaning people are acting like their Father insofar as kindness to the unthankful and goodness to the evil. Those who love their enemies are “chips off the old block.” The promise of being children is connected to great reward in heaven—being a child is the great reward.

The promise of reward encourages us to love our enemies and do good to them that hate us. We do not see the benefit of loving enemies, being kind to the evil, and treating kindly those who treat us badly; for this reason Jesus assures us that it will be a good thing for us and a reward is coming: those who are like God will be with Him as eternal children in life. It may not look like it, but being a child of the Father is in itself also an immediate reward; it is a certain sense of satisfaction.

It should be noted that “enemies” in this context does not mean spiritual enemies (sin, death, devil) for we hate them with perfect and eternal hatred; we make war against spiritual enemies, but “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood.” We never fight against physical people, only against sin, death and devil. Flesh and blood people of the world are instruments used by Sin and Satan. They tempt humans to treat us badly and do us harm; we must separate the sin from the sinner, hating the one and loving the other. Vengeance, getting even, and retaliation are never excused or considered acceptable behavior; love, forgiveness, and kindliness are the only acceptable behaviors toward the evil and the good, the just and the unjust. Forgiving, blessing, loving, praying for and doing good to people who mean you harm goes against the grain, but this response is singled out for great reward. Faith and incentive helps sinful, selfish sinners do the hard thing. Life is better when we remember the promises of God.

 

14. Great in Kingdom

 Matthew 5:19-20

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The conditional promise of greatness is impossible to meet, for who can do and teach all the commandments? If you do and teach the commandments, then you will be called great in the kingdom of God. However, I repent of my failure to do and teach the commandments of God perfectly and completely; I believe in the gospel of the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ. Therefore, by substitution, with Jesus taking my place, I become one who does and teaches the least and the greatest of the commandments.

Being counted as a keeper of the Commandments I can claim the promise of Greatness. God makes me great; God considers me great; God thinks I’m great; and it would be a good idea to think of myself the same way that God thinks of me. I can take this promise to heart by thinking as God thinks: “I am great in the kingdom.” But I am only great because of God, not because of me; I become great when I recognize I am not and I simply receive His gift of greatness in the kingdom. Only when I know that He makes me great and I don’t have to make myself great will I be able to make myself small and be a servant of all. I am free to serve when God forgives and saves me; if I am already great I do not have to prove myself great. This promise changes me into a lowly servant. And that’s a good thing.

13. Law Fulfilled

 Matthew 5:18

For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled.

The promise for us is that the Law will be completely fulfilled, and that the Law will remain unchanged and unchallenged until that happens. The Law is the Moral Code of the Ten Commandments by which the universe holds together. The Law can never be broken, but the people and the cultures of the world break themselves on it. It is like breaking oneself when one tries to break the law of gravity.

All men and women have failed to fulfill the Law; many try to rationalize and excuse and justify themselves by removing jots and tittles; it can’t be done. The only thing we can do with the perfect Law of the Lord is break it and thereby become broken. But One Man has come into the world to fulfill the Law perfectly; He has reflected the holy and righteous God to the world as the perfect man. The Law has been fulfilled finally in one man, and He represents each of us. This “fulfilling” was happening right in front of the listeners to whom He was speaking.

The fulfillment for all of us, however, is yet to come. The Law is fulfilled in us when we are baptized and believe in Christ, but it will be fulfilled in reality on the day of the consummation of all things when resurrected and perfected human beings will live with God in the Eternal State. Then, “all will be fulfilled.”

Here’s a thought experiment: try to imagine what life and living together would be like if the perfect of Law of God were kept by everyone. There would be no stress, no pain, no worry, constant joy, unconditional love, complete acceptance and perfect peace inside and all around. That will be heaven, when all is fulfilled. The Law of the Lord is absolutely beautiful, and it looks like Jesus.

12. Reward in heaven

 Matthew 5:12 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Luke 6:22-23 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out, for the Son of Man’s sake! Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

 Great reward in heaven is promised for all believers in Jesus, for all believers will be, in one degree or another, persecuted, hated, separated, reproached, cast out and spoken evil against. This is the predictable result of speaking up for Jesus in a world that hates God and His children. The munexpected result for persecuted Christians is that will have a great reward in heaven. Jesus gives this promise so that we can take comfort and be reassured at heart: when bad things happen (for any reason) God can turn them for good and the spiritual reward for enduring with faith is worth it. Even a small amount of suffering is turned into a great amount of glory. (2 Corinthians 4:17: “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory.” Wait for it, hope on it, expect it and comfort yourself by the promise.

The promised reward is so great and awesome that we can rejoice, be exceeding glad and leap for joy whenever the people of the world treat us unfairly and hurtfully. This goes against the grain but we have the promise, which is even more certain than the experience. James 1:2 says: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” Because we have such a promise we are able to exhibit joy in the midst of suffering, smile in the face of terror and laugh when feeling pain. The world may think you are crazy, but you have a joy because of Jesus’ promise, and no one can slap away that smile on your face; great is your reward.

Great is you reward in heaven. Heaven is right now, right here, in you heart, in the spiritual experience of your present life; heaven is not just some day, some time later. The reward is in your inner being which is being strengthened, renewed, encouraged, given new life and flooded with joy and peace. And no one can touch it, disturb it or take it away. Go to that inner place and listen to the Gospel: it is more real than the circumstantial suffering.

11. Kingdom of Heaven

 Matthew 5:10

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 The kingdom of God is also a promise for those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Believe it or not, this promise applies to all people who believe in Jesus Christ, those who have heard the Gospel preached to them. Jesus is expecting that those who are listening to Him will be persecuted, and they should also expect persecution for righteousness’ sake. But more importantly, it is also to be expected that theirs is the kingdom of God. This promise covers all.

Persecutions will come as surely as night follows day. 2 Timothy 3:12: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Do not be surprised that the world will hate you and that your adversary, the devil, remains an active enemy. One can only expect opposition when he desires to live a counter-cultural lifestyle. Mark 10:29-30: “There is no one who has left…for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now…,with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.” Not only are persecutions predicted, they are even also seen as blessings. Persecutions are seen as blessings because they are closely connected with rewards: anyone persecuted will be rewarded.

The promise of the kingdom overwhelms and outweighs all earthly and temporal persecutions. When we embrace and fully understand the presence and promise of the kingdom of God we would be more than eager to endure persecution for righteousness’ sake. The prediction and the promise makes us bold to stand up and speak for the truth of God’s Word in the face of a worldly culture that might mock us or avoid us because of such a stand; rejection is difficult to bear but the promise does make it easier.

10. Children of God

Matthew 5:9

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Every normal, sane, rational person on earth wants peace; we all want peaceful conditions around us so we can live and enjoy life peacefully; we all desire life without stress and strife (which hasn’t happened since the Fall); we don’t want to be bothered with hassles, arguments, strife and the fear of war. In this way everyone is a “peacemaker.”

Sin, Death and the Devil are warmongers, stirring up strife, causing dissensions, making war, and doing everything possible to take peace from the earth and from the heart. It may seem to us that we are “dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!” [Psalm 120:6-7]. Although no one wants war, there are people who are tempted and deceived by the Enemy to make war and stir up strife. The more arguments and violent disputes the Enemy can stir up the better it is for Evil.

The promise of being called children of God is for those who want peace: this includes me, for I “seek peace and pursue it.” As a child of God I will be safe and comfortable and at peace in the circle of the family of God. The Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus is bringing into the world is making peace real and alive in the mind and with God and with others. Being called a child of God is the fulfillment of my desire for peace. The love of parents for their children is legendary, deep and strong. This earthly picture reveals to us the strength of God’s love for us in making us his own children. I John 3:1: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”