1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:05,040 All right, well, like like Mike said, my name is Jason and I am 2 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:08,640 the planting pastor with Redemption Bear River. 3 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:12,800 If you have your Bibles, we're going to continue on in our 4 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:18,440 Kingdom Living series here, the Sermon on the Mount. 5 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:21,760 Make sure my click is on. There we go. 6 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,760 All right, so continuing on again, and our King and his 7 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:34,080 Kingdom, there is our passage. We have Matthew Chapter 7 verses 8 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,680 7:00 to 11:00. So if you would please stand 9 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,960 with me and let's read the word of the Lord together. 10 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:44,360 And after we read, we say this is the word of the Lord, Amen. 11 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:49,160 Let's start here in Matthew Chapter 7, starting in verse 7. 12 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:55,360 Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find knock, 13 00:00:55,760 --> 00:01:00,400 and it will be open to you, for everyone who asks receives, and 14 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:04,519 the one who seeks fines, and to the one who knocks it will be 15 00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:07,120 give opened. Or which one of you? 16 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:11,040 If his son ask him for bread, we'll give him a stone, or if he 17 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:13,320 asks for a fish, we'll give him a serpent. 18 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:17,800 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your 19 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:21,360 children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven 20 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:23,840 give good things to those who asked? 21 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:26,480 This is the word of the Lord. Amen. 22 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:30,120 All right, thank you, guys. If you do have your Bibles with 23 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:33,000 you, go ahead and turn in your Bibles to that passage in 24 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:35,160 Matthew. We'll be referencing it quite a 25 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,600 bit. And as you're turning there, I 26 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:40,760 just want to share a quick story with you. 27 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:44,400 And as I was preparing for this sermon this week, I happened 28 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:51,440 upon a video of a Marine who had served in the Pacific theater 29 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:56,720 during World War 2. And he was sharing a story about 30 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:00,560 how that's him right up there, about how prior to being 31 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:05,080 deployed, he was in San Diego, CA training. 32 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:12,240 And he recalled how he needed to get a Colt 45 pistol. 33 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:16,440 He really wanted to get this Colt 45 pistol before he headed 34 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:21,440 over to the Pacific, and he had been unable to find one where he 35 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:25,080 was at. And so he wrote his dear mother 36 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:31,080 a letter and told her his need and asked if she could somehow 37 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,760 procure this Colt 45 and and send it to him. 38 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:44,080 And he told of how his mother was a widow raising six 39 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:50,720 additional children. And so when he asked her to find 40 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:56,160 this Colt 45 pistol for him, he told about how she already worn 41 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:58,920 thin, as you can imagine, from taking care of six kids, trying 42 00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:01,680 to scrape out a living for those children. 43 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,720 He told about how she had taken on additional jobs to save up 44 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:11,280 money to be able to go and buy this Colt 45 pistol. 45 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:14,760 Now she searched for several weeks and she was unable to find 46 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:20,720 one until finally she found a local gunsmith who was operating 47 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:22,880 out of his house. And, and she went to him and she 48 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:25,840 said, do you have this Colt 45 pistol? 49 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:28,160 And he said, well, yes, I do. I have one right here. 50 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,600 And she said, how much? And he said, ma'am, it's $200. 51 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:36,560 And she lowered her head and she said, I, I can't afford that. 52 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:43,000 I've only got about $75. And so she lowered her head and, 53 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:47,480 and she walked out and she headed back out to her meager 54 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,640 house. And not long after that, the 55 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:54,720 gunsmith came running out chasing after her. 56 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,880 And he finally caught up to her. And he says, you know, ma'am, 57 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:02,240 I'm, I'm curious. Why do you need such a powerful 58 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,400 weapon, being a woman of such small stature? 59 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:09,760 And the widow says, well, it's it's not for me, It's for my 60 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,160 son. He's being sent over and he's 61 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,560 fighting in the war. And he told me that he needs 62 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:19,040 this pistol. And so the gunsmith granted, he 63 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,240 said, ma'am, I I think I can do business with you. 64 00:04:21,959 --> 00:04:28,720 And finally, this Marine concludes his story and recalled 65 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:33,000 how his mother took what little bit of money she had left the 66 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,520 last the last bit of money that she had left. 67 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:42,560 And she bought a bus ticket and she took a 36 hour bus ride from 68 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:47,240 East Texas all the way to San Diego, CA to put that Colt 45 69 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:53,520 pistol in her son's hand. And as this battle hardened 70 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:59,680 decorated combat marine finishes the story, his eyes are misty as 71 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:06,480 he's recalling fondly the links to which his mother went to 72 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:08,360 provide that weapon that would keep him safe. 73 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:12,560 He reached down and he pulled up that same very Colt 45 that she 74 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:17,240 had given him. Now, for those of you in here 75 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,400 who are parents, you can certainly relate to that story, 76 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:22,760 right? You can relate. 77 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,960 There is no height, there is no depth to which a parent would 78 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:31,000 not go to provide for their children. 79 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,800 And if you're not yet a parent, maybe you can think about your 80 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,760 own parents, maybe grandparents, somebody in your life that has 81 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:45,200 cared for you in that way. They meet every need that you 82 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:51,840 have, no matter the sacrifice. But in our passage today, we see 83 00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:55,800 that even that great of a love has limits. 84 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:04,360 But God in His infinite love and goodness provides not only for 85 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:08,080 the physical needs of His children, but He is also 86 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:12,960 provided the greatest need that any of us have, and that is our 87 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:16,440 spiritual standing before a perfectly holy God. 88 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,920 And so where the love of an earthly parent cannot reach, we 89 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:27,160 will see how God's boundless love and grace meets the most 90 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:31,120 urgent need that we have by giving us the greatest gift that 91 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:33,880 we could ever receive. And that is the title for our 92 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:39,640 sermon today, is that our good Father gives good gifts. 93 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:47,520 Now beginning in verse 7, I have to point this clicker. 94 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:54,860 Is it working? Oh, there we go. 95 00:06:55,460 --> 00:06:58,740 There's our title slide. It's beginning in Matthew 96 00:06:58,740 --> 00:07:05,340 Chapter 7, verse 7 and 8. We see here that Jesus is giving 97 00:07:05,340 --> 00:07:08,500 3 imperatives. He gives 3 calls to action here 98 00:07:08,820 --> 00:07:11,100 which are followed by three promises. 99 00:07:11,900 --> 00:07:15,500 Ask, seek, and knock are the imperatives. 100 00:07:15,500 --> 00:07:19,880 And So what does He promise to those who ask, to those who 101 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:23,320 seek, and to those who knock? Well, he says that for those who 102 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:28,640 ask, it will be given to you. Seek and you will find, and 103 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:32,520 finally knock, and it will be opened to you. 104 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,800 And again in verse 8, he reinforces those promises. 105 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,720 He says that everyone who asks receives. 106 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,800 The one who seeks finds, and the one who knocks, it will be 107 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:48,080 opened. So we see Jesus here calling to 108 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:51,520 everybody who hears this teaching to hears this sermon, 109 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:55,240 to act. This is a call to action. 110 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,880 And then we see how God responds to those actions. 111 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:05,200 Now, if you remember back to the end of chapter 6 that we just 112 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:09,640 went over a few weeks ago, where Jesus says not to be anxious or 113 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:12,840 to worry about what you'll eat, what you'll drink, what you'll 114 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:18,840 wear there in that passage, He is certainly addressing and 115 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:23,800 describing God's ability to abundantly meet the physical 116 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:27,000 needs of his children, and God certainly does that. 117 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:32,280 But the application, I think for that passage and especially for 118 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:37,919 our passage today, is that our prayer life should be reflective 119 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:40,080 of this kind of petitioning, right? 120 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:45,760 But there's a danger here that I think we have to avoid in 121 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,600 studying this passage. And it's one that a lot of false 122 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:55,440 teachers will use to portray God as just some kind of spiritual 123 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:59,600 genie, right? Just like Aladdin up there. 124 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:01,040 You ain't never had a friend like me. 125 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:04,320 We take this passage and we look at it that way. 126 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:09,600 That's what happens, right? That's how we perceive God that 127 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:14,440 that just some spiritual cosmic genie that we use to manifest 128 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:18,400 health and wealth and prosperity in our lives. 129 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:24,080 The misappropriating miss applying this passage in that 130 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:28,440 way, It not only distorts what the spirit is actually speaking 131 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:35,680 in the text, but what it does is it shifts the power dynamic, 132 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:39,160 especially in terms of how we think about that relationship 133 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:42,080 between US and God. See, it shifts the power from 134 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:47,240 God to us because we think that somehow God is like our personal 135 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:53,120 Butler and that he's at our beckon call and and whatever we 136 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:55,600 ask, he's just supposed to give us, right? 137 00:09:56,560 --> 00:09:59,360 And So what that does is it changes it changes our view of 138 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:03,880 God and it changes the attitude with which we ask him. 139 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:08,600 And so I think for us to understand not only this 140 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:11,960 imperative, the first one here, but this whole passage, the 141 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:15,560 question should be is how should we ask? 142 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:19,800 How should we ask? And I think the past of the the 143 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:24,560 answer there can be found in Matthew chapter 18 verses one 144 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:27,880 through 4. Now the passage here says that 145 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:32,200 at that time Jesus of the disciples came to Jesus saying, 146 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:34,160 Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven? 147 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,800 And calling to him a child. He put him in the midst of him 148 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:42,960 and said, truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like 149 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:46,360 children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. 150 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:51,680 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in 151 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:55,880 the Kingdom of heaven. So this passage here gives us a 152 00:10:55,880 --> 00:11:00,440 clue of how we are to come to God with our request. 153 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:04,200 I want you to think back again about that parent child 154 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:06,520 relationship. That's a that's a theme that we 155 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,280 see played out over and over here in this passage. 156 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:12,280 But think about that parent child relationship. 157 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,680 See, a child is completely dependent on their parents. 158 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:21,560 A child has no means to provide for all the things that that are 159 00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:27,440 needed to sustain their life. And knowing that a child goes to 160 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:32,760 their parent and they trust that in asking their parents for what 161 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:37,640 they need, that the parents will meet those needs, fulfill those 162 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:41,880 needs, that's what that parent child relationship is, at least 163 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:49,480 in its ideal form. But how many of us, when we feel 164 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:54,520 the pressures of life that fill us with anxiety, how often do we 165 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:56,600 say, you know what, I'll figure it out. 166 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:00,920 I'll make something happen, I'll make it work, I will, I will, I 167 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:09,320 will, I can, I can, I can see. We neglect to go humbly to God 168 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:15,040 and trust Him, and instead we take it on ourselves to act on 169 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:18,760 our own behalf. And how does that usually end 170 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:21,960 up? It usually makes things worse, 171 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:28,000 right? First, Peter chapter 5, verse 7 172 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,360 again. Humble yourselves, therefore, 173 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:35,480 under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time He may 174 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:40,320 exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He 175 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:44,720 cares for you. So how should we ask? 176 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:50,440 We should ask with humility and complete trust. 177 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:56,600 We should ask with humility and in complete trust because in 178 00:12:56,600 --> 00:13:03,080 asking that way, we are trusting that God will supply exactly 179 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,160 what we need, exactly when we need it. 180 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:10,400 And you know, just like Mike mentioned, we're we're getting 181 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:12,120 ready to plant a church in Tremont. 182 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,320 And I think back over my life over the last 3-4 years since 183 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:21,360 moving to Utah from South Carolina, how difficult that was 184 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:24,200 and all the trials and difficulties that came along 185 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:29,040 with that uncertainty, not knowing what the future would 186 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:33,760 be, but it but, but learning how to trust God through that 187 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:36,720 process. And now as we've moved up to 188 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:39,720 Tremont and we're assembling our core team together, we're, we're 189 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:45,680 looking at budgets for 20/26/27 and we're thinking, where's this 190 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:48,960 money going to come from? How are we going to get this? 191 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,800 What we're looking for a building where, where we're 192 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:57,040 going to end up all these questions that we don't 193 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:01,080 necessarily know the answers to all the time, but in humility 194 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:02,600 what we do is we say, you know what? 195 00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:10,280 I have seen God a hundreds of time, time after time provide 196 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:12,480 exactly what we need exactly when we need it. 197 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:17,320 But it's in how we ask him those things. 198 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:21,680 Do we go to him humbly? Do we go to him prayerfully? 199 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:32,730 That's how we should ask. And that's what we've seen in 200 00:14:32,730 --> 00:14:34,370 our lives over the last several years. 201 00:14:34,370 --> 00:14:37,410 Like I said, as as God has continued to grow us in this 202 00:14:37,410 --> 00:14:42,090 process of planting redemption Bear River, stretching our faith 203 00:14:42,090 --> 00:14:45,850 and growing our faith in ways that I, I quite honestly, I 204 00:14:45,850 --> 00:14:48,730 could never have imagined apart from this process. 205 00:14:48,850 --> 00:14:53,480 It's been beautiful to see how God has not only used the people 206 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:58,080 around us, but even people back in South Carolina and, and in 207 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:00,760 the East Coast and all those folks to be part of this church 208 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:02,840 plan. And we're blessed to be part of 209 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:08,080 it, but we're trusting God. We're trusting God for all of 210 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,680 it. But you know, there are so many 211 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:16,720 people who feel overwhelmed by those anxieties of life that we 212 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:21,160 talked about, people who are just kind of trying to figure 213 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:25,320 out what life is about, people who are searching for answers, 214 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:29,080 but they're looking in the wrong places. 215 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:54,170 Think about how much of our life inning and purpose, but that 216 00:15:54,170 --> 00:15:58,570 search ultimately comes up empty if it does not result in seeking 217 00:15:58,570 --> 00:16:04,370 God's will for their life. And that second imperative that 218 00:16:04,370 --> 00:16:09,320 we see here, we see that Jesus is saying that as as Christians, 219 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:14,800 we should be actively searching to know what the will of God is. 220 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:17,600 It's like when we played this game when we were little, played 221 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:22,600 hide and seek. Now we would count, you know, 222 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:27,360 just like this young boy against the tree. 78910 And then we say, 223 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:31,280 have y'all ever played hide and seek before? 224 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:33,080 Is there? Let me check for a gas leak in 225 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:40,680 here 78910, Ready or not, here I come. 226 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:43,520 Now when you say ready or not, here I come. 227 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,600 Are you just kind of leaning on that tree, looking out here, 228 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:50,680 scanning maybe I see one over there. 229 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:53,720 No. What are you doing? 230 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:57,560 You take off running, right? You are looking under every 231 00:16:57,560 --> 00:16:59,520 Bush, You're looking behind every tree. 232 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:04,839 You are actively searching for those that have gone and hid. 233 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:10,119 And that's what we should do as Christians as we're seeking God 234 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:13,240 more and becoming more like Jesus. 235 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:18,040 And you know, this is this time of year, the new year. 236 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,000 We're already kind of thinking in those terms, right? 237 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,040 Making some changes for the upcoming year. 238 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:29,000 Well, let me tell you, just like this morning, we started a new 239 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,720 series about spiritual disciplines. 240 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:38,720 We've got a reading series, a Bible reading series in EU 241 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,960 Version app that a lot of folks here participating in. 242 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:48,320 Those are ways that you can commit to a more disciplined 243 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:52,520 spiritual life as you are actively seeking to know more 244 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,400 about who God is and His will for your life. 245 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:02,960 In First Timothy chapter 4 verse 7, it says have nothing to do 246 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:07,440 with irreverent silly myths. Rather, train yourself for 247 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,080 godliness. For while bodily training is of 248 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:15,880 some value, godliness is of value in every way as it holds 249 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:19,160 promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 250 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:24,080 So there is value in a more disciplined spiritual life, not 251 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:27,720 just eternally and how it affects us and our relationship 252 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:31,560 with God eternally, but even in the right now, even in how we 253 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:33,560 live. Because a more disciplined 254 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:39,400 spiritual life means that we prioritize prayer, We prioritize 255 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:45,800 the study of God's Word, and there's a much more intentional 256 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:49,600 and focused approach to that. See, the more that we read 257 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:54,920 Scripture, the more that the Holy Spirit reveals to us about 258 00:18:55,120 --> 00:18:58,480 the nature, the character, the attributes of God. 259 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:03,160 We learn more about how we are to live in light of our faith 260 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:05,920 and how that faith has to be acted out. 261 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:10,920 And then in conjunction with that, when we're actively 262 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:15,880 seeking the guidance of in the conviction of the Holy Spirit, 263 00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:21,160 what we do is we find that that our will begins to take a back 264 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,880 seat to what God's will is for our life. 265 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:31,080 As we become more disciplined in seeking God and his will, we see 266 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:35,520 our desires fade and we find that we're much less likely to 267 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:42,040 act according to our will, but instead we want to act according 268 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:46,120 to the will of God that's been revealed to us by the Spirit 269 00:19:46,120 --> 00:19:49,360 through the practice and through the application of spiritual 270 00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:53,600 disciplines. So in actively seeking, we 271 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:58,640 should be actively seeking God through a disciplined spiritual 272 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:01,560 life. We should be actively seeking 273 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:05,160 God through a disciplined spiritual life. 274 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:10,600 And what happens is that leads us to a much higher view of who 275 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:13,120 God is, right? The more time that we spend in 276 00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:17,040 prayer, the more time that we spend in His Word, we have a 277 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:22,320 higher view of who God is. And we begin to submit our will 278 00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:28,080 for His will. Because things don't always end 279 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:31,360 up how we want them to end up, right? 280 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,760 They don't always happen how we want things to happen. 281 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:42,680 But if our selfish desire and will and want is what motivates 282 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:49,120 us, if that's how we're going to God and asking, then guess what? 283 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:55,040 The likelihood that you're going to end up disappointed is going 284 00:20:55,040 --> 00:21:00,600 to happen a lot. Because until our will, what we 285 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:05,160 want matters less than what God wants. 286 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:10,080 How we perceive God in answering those prayers is radically 287 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:13,120 different, dramatically different. 288 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:17,120 But see, when we exchange our will for his through a 289 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:21,160 disciplined spiritual life, we begin to see the chipping away, 290 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:25,920 the eroding away of our own will in our life, and we begin to see 291 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:30,080 God's will more and more. What happens is that we have 292 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:32,720 less disappointment. We're not disappointed. 293 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:37,640 Instead, we have more affirmation, more acceptance of 294 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:42,600 the sovereignty of God because we understand that in his 295 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:48,240 infinite wisdom, He always knows that what we want is not 296 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:52,600 necessarily what we need, but the more intent that we're 297 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:57,040 actively seeking how to follow His will, the more that we begin 298 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:00,360 to see that right? And that's important. 299 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:07,160 That's important because we see Jesus doing that very thing just 300 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:12,040 hours before he would be nailed to the cross and while He was 301 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:16,480 fully God and fully man in His human nature. 302 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:23,160 Here Matthew 2639, it says he fell to his face to pray. 303 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,600 He's deeply troubled, crying out to the Father. 304 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:32,720 My Father, ABBA, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass 305 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:37,720 from me nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. 306 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:45,120 Now, this is certainly not Jesus in his divine nature disagreeing 307 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:49,240 with the will of the Father. There's no disagreement, there's 308 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:56,120 no disunity, right? This is Jesus as a man in his 309 00:22:56,120 --> 00:23:04,040 human nature, thinking how unbearable this horrible 310 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:12,400 distribution of God's wrath would be, but knowing that for 311 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:20,040 God's plan of redemption to be carried out, he must submit to 312 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,640 the will of the Father. And Jesus here, in his human 313 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:27,600 nature, as an example to us, submits to the will of the 314 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:34,440 Father, despite the unimaginable agony and suffering that He knew 315 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:43,560 He had to endure. I want you to think about that 316 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:48,120 for a minute and let's kind of take a little bit of a mental 317 00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:49,640 break. This seems like a good place to 318 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:51,680 take a little bit of a mental break. 319 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:56,960 So I want you to take a second and I want you to let your mind 320 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:00,400 go to Galilee in the 1st century. 321 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:04,520 Imagine you're there. Now imagine you're walking down 322 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:07,320 a dusty road and and you come upon a house. 323 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,560 Can you kind of visualize what a house in 1st century Galilee 324 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:14,640 would look like? Probably nothing too fancy, 325 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:16,560 right? Probably made out of mud brick. 326 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:22,800 Well, here's a rendering here to help you based on archaeology 327 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:30,320 science of what a house from around the same period, from 328 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:34,120 around the same region that Jesus gave his Sermon on the 329 00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:37,880 Mount would have looked like. So you see, pretty standard 330 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:41,200 house here in 1st century Galilee. 331 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:46,480 Now, if you look up here, you see there's a wall kind of going 332 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:49,880 all the way around this part of the house right here. 333 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:52,720 Now this is where, you know, you would have lived and slept and 334 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:56,800 done all those things. And if you look right here, 335 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:02,400 right where this enormous ox is standing, you see that that 336 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:03,800 would have been a gate right there. 337 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,680 And that would have been a big wide gate, probably made out of 338 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:13,240 pretty heavy wood. And if you can imagine that 339 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:15,600 you're walking up that dusty road and you come upon this 340 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:19,440 house, maybe your friend lives here, and you go to that big 341 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,600 heavy gate that's outside of where the the people are 342 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:26,440 actually living in the house. You walk up to that gate and you 343 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:31,600 knock on the gate and you go. You think anybody's going to 344 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:35,760 come out of that door and come let you in if you go up and you 345 00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:37,960 knock like this? No. 346 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:45,400 But what if you knock like this? You knock more intently, and 347 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:48,040 then you knock like this and you start pounding and you're 348 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,560 knocking and you keep knocking and you persist. 349 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:55,520 You knock intently and you persist in your knocking. 350 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,960 And then this third imperative here, Jesus wants his followers 351 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:05,640 to knock and to keep knocking, persisting in prayer, persisting 352 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:10,800 in a disciplined spiritual life, enduring in their faith as they 353 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:15,160 are, continuing to be conformed to the will of God, being molded 354 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:20,920 through a discipline life which produces a life that looks more 355 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:23,520 like that of Jesus. That's the result, right? 356 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:25,920 Mike talked about the goal. The result. 357 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:30,160 Goal's not to do it. The end goal is what it produces 358 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:35,080 in US. And so this last imperative here 359 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:40,760 of this, this fervent, persistent prayer, right. 360 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:51,800 Imagine, imagine if you will, that if you're, if you're in 361 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:57,160 your prayer life, not always is God quick to answer, at least by 362 00:26:57,160 --> 00:26:59,760 our standards when we pray, right? 363 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:01,600 We think sometimes it takes too long. 364 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:08,080 Now you can have confidence that he will answer, always trust and 365 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:11,960 believe that, but that doesn't necessarily always align with 366 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:16,880 with our timing, right? But what if we change the way 367 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:20,000 that we view our prayer life? What if we took a different 368 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,200 approach? And what if we didn't just utter 369 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:26,000 the same prayers couple days a week, you know, right before we 370 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:30,120 go to bed? Here's a challenge for all of 371 00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:33,320 us. Everybody in this room, I would 372 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:37,640 guess, has one of these probably in their pockets, right? 373 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:46,400 What if instead of mindlessly scrolling on these, we spent 374 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:50,640 that same amount of time in prayer or in the Word of God? 375 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:57,400 What would our relationship with God look like then, if we prayed 376 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:05,080 that way? Fervent, persistent, intent 377 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:09,280 prayers. Just like we're standing at that 378 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:17,600 gate pounding, knocking intently, persistently resolve 379 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:21,200 that we're not going to walk away until somebody comes to let 380 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:25,360 us in. And so this last imperative here 381 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:30,320 can be summed up like this. God says we should pray, we 382 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:32,360 should pray intently and we should pray often. 383 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:39,920 And as we pray this way, what what happens is that we we see 384 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:46,800 our faith increase so that what we're asking of God is not so 385 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:51,400 much for things anymore, right? We kind of lose our our focus 386 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:55,080 shifts away from things like he said, we shouldn't worry about 387 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:59,000 those things like what will we wear or what will we eat or what 388 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:02,440 will we drink? We shouldn't worry about those 389 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:06,440 things. But what we start to ask for and 390 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:14,120 seek for is his presence, right? We want to commune with him. 391 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:19,920 We want to spend time with him like you would when you go and 392 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:22,760 visit your friend and you knock on their door and they let you 393 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:24,520 in. You're there to commune. 394 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:28,280 You're there to spend time. You're there to cultivate a 395 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:34,120 deeper and more meaningful relationship so that no matter 396 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:38,880 what God chooses to bring into our lives, we rejoice in it 397 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:45,200 because, as Romans 828 says, He is working all things for the 398 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:48,480 good of those who love Him and who are called according to His 399 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,720 purpose. Now, sometimes our definition of 400 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:55,280 what's good doesn't necessarily match up with what God's 401 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:58,360 definition is. Sometimes we have to be taught 402 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:03,320 what that means, right? But as we're asking, as we're 403 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:09,280 actively seeking, intently praying and knocking for that 404 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:13,640 deeper relationship, that is what God is revealing to us 405 00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:19,720 through that process. But what is that purpose that it 406 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:23,320 talks about there in Romans 828 for those that are called 407 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:26,200 according to his purpose? What is that purpose? 408 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:31,440 Well, if we think back again to the end of that passage in 409 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,000 Matthew chapter 6, if you have your Bible, you can turn there. 410 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:39,000 It's in verse 33 right after where Jesus says don't be 411 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:42,360 anxious about what you will eat or drink or where. 412 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:48,600 If we keep reading verse 33, Jesus says those things 413 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:52,680 shouldn't be our focus because we are to what? 414 00:30:53,040 --> 00:31:00,520 Seek first the Kingdom of heaven or Kingdom of God, and all these 415 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:04,280 things will be added to you. You see, God knows that our 416 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:10,240 greatest need is not physical, it is spiritual. 417 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:14,000 And as we've worked through this first section, I hope you're 418 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:17,880 starting to see that this is not just talking about God providing 419 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:20,000 physically. This is about something deeper, 420 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:24,600 something more meaningful. Because see, the temporary needs 421 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:32,360 of this life, they are far, far outweighed by the eternity. 422 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:38,440 Listen, the eternity that we will spend either in the 423 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:43,560 presence of God and his glory for those who have trusted Jesus 424 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:52,200 as Savior, or an eternity in the fiery torment and torture of 425 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:59,000 hell for those who reject Jesus. And that's just how it is, one 426 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:06,360 or the other. But the more intently that we 427 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:12,360 ask, the more humbly that we ask God and His Spirit to show us 428 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:16,920 how to enter into that deeper relationship. 429 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:20,920 He is faithful to do just that, right? 430 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:26,640 If we act, if we ask humbly, if we seek intently, if we pray 431 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:29,720 fervently, what does He promise to do here? 432 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:34,920 He promises to give. He promises that we'll find. 433 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:39,040 And He promises that when we knock, it will be opened to us. 434 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:46,720 And see, the more seriously that we take our faith, the deeper 435 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:53,480 our appreciation of the links to which God is willing to go to 436 00:32:53,480 --> 00:33:01,240 redeem sinful man begins to shift our focus, turn us from 437 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:04,400 those things that that don't really last, that don't matter, 438 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:07,520 that aren't eternal. And it turns our focus toward 439 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:15,320 Jesus's promise of eternal life for all those who place their 440 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:21,880 trust in Him as Lord. And verses 7 or verses 9 through 441 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:25,080 11. Here we see the contrast of that 442 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:30,800 goodness of God, just how good he is here versus an imperfect 443 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:37,200 earthly father where Jesus asked for which one of you, if his Son 444 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,040 asked for bread, will give him a stone. 445 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:46,120 Now you might know this has been seen this a lot lately, but you 446 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:52,760 might know that the bread that we eat now is way different than 447 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:55,360 the bread that they would have eaten here back in this ancient 448 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:58,000 time, right in the 1st century. Quite different. 449 00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:02,640 See, the bread that we have now, it's got all the chemicals and 450 00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:06,160 genetic modifiers and all these things that have been done to 451 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:10,679 the seed that have somehow changed the nutritional value of 452 00:34:10,679 --> 00:34:16,320 the grain versus how they used to make ancient bread. 453 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:23,840 But did you know that in the 1st century, around this time, 70 to 454 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:30,960 80% of a person's daily diet was made-up of bread? 455 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:35,679 70 to 80%. Some of y'all don't even like 456 00:34:35,679 --> 00:34:40,040 looking at bread. I can't have the carbs. 457 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:44,920 Can you imagine 8 out of every 10 things you eat in a day or 458 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:48,920 bread? But that's because it was 459 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:54,800 essential sustenance, right? Agriculture and livestock and, 460 00:34:55,040 --> 00:35:01,120 and all those things weren't the greatest during that time. 461 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:03,680 So what they could do is they could grow grain and they could 462 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:07,280 make bread and they could eat a lot of it and it was essential. 463 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:11,080 It was essential to be sustained. 464 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:17,440 Now, so, so obviously no reasonable loving father or 465 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:24,040 mother who loves their child would deny necessary sustenance 466 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:28,480 and instead give something like a stone that could in no way 467 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,600 meet any of those needs, right? No reasonable parent would do 468 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:33,960 that. Obviously the answer is no. 469 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:39,440 Continuing in verse 10, Jesus says, or if he asked for a fish, 470 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:43,000 would give him a serpent. Now again, obviously the answer 471 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:46,560 here is no. No reasonable or loving parent 472 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:51,360 would give their child something like a serpent that could harm 473 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:55,480 or cause grave injury. Now, certainly we look forward 474 00:35:55,480 --> 00:35:57,760 to the day that our children can play over the whole of the 475 00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:03,040 cobra. Remember, back to Isaiah, that's 476 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:08,240 not today, not quite here yet. So don't give your kids the 477 00:36:08,240 --> 00:36:12,760 serpent instead of a fish. And obviously, if you love your 478 00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:14,000 kids, you wouldn't do that, right? 479 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:18,360 These are rhetorical questions. Jesus knows the answer and they 480 00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:21,080 know the answer. Of course not. 481 00:36:21,720 --> 00:36:25,120 Of course we wouldn't do these things, but Jesus here in verse 482 00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:32,200 11, he concludes with what I think is the most powerful truth 483 00:36:32,720 --> 00:36:34,880 of this entire passage in verse 11. 484 00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:40,840 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your 485 00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:46,080 children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven 486 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:49,600 give good things to those who ask him? 487 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:57,440 Jesus is saying here that earthly fathers, human fathers, 488 00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:03,560 limited even those who might have experienced a saving faith. 489 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:11,800 They still carry this remnant of evil and wickedness and sin, but 490 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:15,880 Even so, they still have the capability. 491 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:20,880 They still have the ability to give good things to meet the 492 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:26,720 needs of their children, wicked, sinful fathers, and still do 493 00:37:26,720 --> 00:37:30,320 that. But how much greater? 494 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:39,560 How much greater is our Father in heaven, the Almighty, who 495 00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:43,720 dwells in a place where human love could never reach? 496 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:50,160 When asked rightly, how much more freely and abundantly does 497 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:54,760 He give to His children? How much greater is the love of 498 00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:59,440 God when we seek Him? Does He demonstrate His might 499 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:04,360 and His power that would make even the strongest of earthly 500 00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:11,280 fathers look weak? No human father could touch the 501 00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:15,160 strength of God. How much more is God willing to 502 00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:22,080 invite those who need the renewal and the peace found only 503 00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:24,360 in a right relationship with Him? 504 00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:29,200 How much more is He willing to invite them into His loving 505 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:34,880 embrace? See, God is infinitely greater a 506 00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:40,840 Father, and even the most loving and caring and devoted Father 507 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:46,840 that any of us have ever known or ever could know, even to the 508 00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:55,720 point of sending His only begotten Son to the cross to die 509 00:38:56,920 --> 00:39:02,720 in our place, that we might live eternally in the presence of our 510 00:39:02,720 --> 00:39:05,760 Heavenly Father. And that is our main point for 511 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:10,800 today. Earthly parents sacrifice to 512 00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:14,240 provide and preserve the physical lives of their 513 00:39:14,240 --> 00:39:19,920 children, but our good Father sacrificed his own Son so that 514 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:24,080 we might have eternal life through his free gift of grace. 515 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:31,320 Imagine that. Imagine that He loves us so 516 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:37,720 much, He cares for us so deeply, to give up his own Son, his only 517 00:39:37,720 --> 00:39:42,480 Son, that we might have eternal life with him through this free 518 00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:47,440 gift of grace. And Christian, that should fill 519 00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:55,360 you with encouragement and hope. If you have trusted Jesus as 520 00:39:55,360 --> 00:40:00,080 your Savior, that should fill you with hope and encouragement 521 00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:04,160 in the face of such a dark and a such an uncertain world. 522 00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:12,200 But you might be here today, or watching online and and maybe 523 00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:16,480 you've never felt the love of an earthly father. 524 00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:21,600 And so maybe when we talk about fond memories and, and loving 525 00:40:21,720 --> 00:40:26,080 provision of an earthly father, maybe all you can remember is 526 00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:31,880 bitterness and, and distance and hurt and maybe the kind of love 527 00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:35,280 that Jesus is talking about here, maybe even that kind of 528 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:37,560 love is something you can't quite understand. 529 00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:41,160 But friend, I'm here to tell you, it's available for you 530 00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:45,760 today. It's available for you today. 531 00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:52,200 You see, God created us to be relational in relationship with 532 00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:56,040 Him. And the first man and the first 533 00:40:56,040 --> 00:41:02,640 woman, they had a perfect relationship with God until man 534 00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:07,680 broke that covenant when he chose his own desire, when he 535 00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:12,800 chose his own will instead of choosing to be obedient to God. 536 00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:18,800 And it is that brokenness that has blinded our eyes in thinking 537 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:21,000 that we should have to ask God for anything. 538 00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:26,560 It's the unrepentants that makes us look for purpose in our own 539 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:31,720 wants, in our own desires. And it is sin that bars the gate 540 00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:38,480 that keeps us from entering into that loving and meaningful 541 00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:43,560 relationship with our Creator. And that's the bad news. 542 00:41:46,240 --> 00:41:53,880 But the good news, the good news is that our loving Father God 543 00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:58,160 has sent us the greatest gift that anyone could ever receive. 544 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:05,400 In an unimaginable display of grace, He sent his Son Jesus to 545 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:10,320 be born to live as a man. And having lived that sinless 546 00:42:10,320 --> 00:42:15,880 life, Jesus met God's perfect standard that we could never 547 00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:19,200 live up to, of perfect obedience. 548 00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:24,120 And Jesus gave himself up. Like we saw in that passage. 549 00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:26,960 He said not my will, but your will be done. 550 00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:35,000 Let it be so that He would go to the cross to die in our place, 551 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:40,440 to satisfy the penalty of sin, which is death. 552 00:42:44,200 --> 00:42:48,080 And though He died for the sins of many, after three days He was 553 00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:48,920 raised. Amen. 554 00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:55,640 He now sits at the right hand of the Father until the day that he 555 00:42:55,640 --> 00:42:59,920 returns to rule his Kingdom and the new heaven and the new 556 00:42:59,920 --> 00:43:04,440 earth. And Jesus promised eternal life 557 00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:11,960 in that Kingdom to all those who would place their trust in Him 558 00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:19,200 and repent of their sin. Romans 623 says For the wages of 559 00:43:19,200 --> 00:43:27,040 sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ 560 00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:34,240 Jesus our Lord. Jesus said that whoever asks 561 00:43:34,240 --> 00:43:43,040 receives the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks 562 00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:53,800 it will be opened. So will you ask Him today to 563 00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:59,800 forgive you of your sin and humbly submit to Him as Lord of 564 00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:03,760 your life? Will you seek to turn from your 565 00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:10,720 sin in repentance and will you knock on that narrow gate that 566 00:44:10,720 --> 00:44:15,440 few enter that leads to eternal life in the Kingdom of heaven? 567 00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:20,240 Let's pray together. Lord, I thank you for this 568 00:44:20,240 --> 00:44:25,640 passage of Scripture. God, we can have such confidence 569 00:44:28,080 --> 00:44:33,560 and boldness to come before your throne and ask because of the 570 00:44:33,560 --> 00:44:37,840 work and person of Jesus. And so God, help us never take 571 00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:40,400 that for granted. Lord, help us to to always be 572 00:44:40,400 --> 00:44:43,760 humble in the face of your glory. 573 00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:46,880 Help us always, Lord, to seek you intently and intentionally, 574 00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:52,720 to prioritize the things, Lord, that will bring us closer to 575 00:44:52,720 --> 00:44:57,120 deeper relationship with you, God, and help us to do that 576 00:44:57,120 --> 00:45:06,480 persistently so that we might begin to see our will fade, to 577 00:45:06,480 --> 00:45:11,200 grow, and to be more like your son Jesus, to do the will of the 578 00:45:11,200 --> 00:45:15,200 Father as Jesus did. And so, God, I pray that if 579 00:45:15,200 --> 00:45:19,160 there be anyone here today that has not received this free gift 580 00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:24,200 of grace, they have not asked you for forgiveness to be Lord 581 00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:26,440 of their life. They have not sought you out. 582 00:45:26,440 --> 00:45:29,720 Lord, I pray that you would continue to stir their heart, 583 00:45:30,760 --> 00:45:34,680 that you would continue to draw them to yourself that they might 584 00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:39,440 know they need to ask that they not, that they might know that 585 00:45:40,480 --> 00:45:44,240 they should be looking elsewhere than what this world has to 586 00:45:44,240 --> 00:45:47,440 offer. And you are the greatest 587 00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:49,040 treasure, Lord, that we could ever have. 588 00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:53,120 And so I pray that today, God, as we continue to worship here 589 00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:56,240 in song and in this benediction, Lord, speak to the hearts of 590 00:45:56,240 --> 00:45:59,560 those, not only to the ones that know you and love you God, but 591 00:45:59,560 --> 00:46:01,200 to the ones that are far from you here today. 592 00:46:01,200 --> 00:46:02,840 And I pray that in Jesus name.