Sermon On The Mount: Qualified Requests
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being 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!
Matthew 7:7-11 (NKJV)
Qualified requests focus on THE ASK. We serve a Father Who likes to answer.
Parentally, He likes to hear from us.
Personally, He likes to be with us.
Graciously, He likes to give of Himself!
From strolling in the garden with Adam to the indwelling of the Holy Ghost:
'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him' (John 14:23).
But between Adam’s fall and His Son’s rise, sin reigned and ruined. 'Your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His Face from you, so that He will not hear' (Isaiah 59:2). During this era, God spoke to and through appointed prophets.
Moses gave us His Laws and Commandments: written by God’s Hand, nestled in an Ark, covered by a mercy seat and a veil. Once a year, the high priest entered 'The Most Holy Place' (Hebrews 10:19) to plead for the children of Israel. Only he was qualified for ‘the ask.’
But when Jesus, THE Qualifier came, He changed the communication system. Upon His death, 'The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom' (Matthew 27:51).
No longer do we need an earthly priest to intercede for us with the Father… Because of 'Him Who loved us and washed us from our sins in His Own Blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father' (Revelation 1:5-6).*
'Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the Blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the Curtain, that is, His Body' (Hebrews 10:19-20), we’re qualified to make ‘The Ask’ ourselves:
'Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need' (Hebrews 4:16).
JUST ASK!
Sermon On The Mount: The Qualified Request (Part 26)
* Brief description by Paul of the Tabernacle before and after Jesus: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%209&version=NKJV
NOTE: This is a 2023 update of a 2013 Carey Lewis Devotion. You may see notes to 'Actors, Models & Talent for Christ.' If you think you're not in show business, think again. Shakespeare said, 'All the world's a stage and all its men and women merely players. Mostly true. But you're not merely players. You are messengers and ambassadors for the King of kings.