Theme: On trial in a case of life or death.
This weeks lessons show that we are the ones on trial.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 26:59-60
Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60 but they found none, though many false witnesses came for
Theme: On trial in a case of life or death.
This weeks lessons show that we are the ones on trial.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 26:62-63
And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But Jesus remained silent.
Theme: On trial in a case of life or death.
This weeks lessons show that we are the ones on trial.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 26:63-66
But Jesus remained silent.
Theme: On trial in a case of life or death.
This weeks lessons show that we are the ones on trial.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 26:65-67
Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy.
Theme: God redeems our failures
This week’s lessons show us ways to walk faithfully with God
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 26:69-75
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard.
We can visualize it something like this. Peter was brought into the courtyard of the high priest by a disciple who knew the high priest, probably John. As Peter came in he was recognized by the girl who kept the door, and although she didn’t object to Peter’s presence initially, she most likely followed him into the courtyard where he had stopped to warm himself at a fire that was there.
The third thing we can say in Peter’s defense is that Peter clearly loved Jesus. That is the only possible reason why he followed him. Like Mary, who is soon to be seen in the garden by the tomb weeping because she loved and missed the Master, Peter did not want to be far from his Lord. True, he wanted “to see the outcome.”
Peter looked down on the other disciples. Peter would probably have denied that he looked down on the others. He would probably have said, “We are all in this together, boys. We are all only ‘unprofitable servants’ at best. Jesus said so, didn’t he” But deep in his heart Peter thought he was the most upright, the most perceptive, and the most courageous one.
David knew the danger of bad company, which is why he spoke so often of avoiding evil doers. We are often uneasy when we read such passages, because they sound self-righteous, judgmental, and harsh. But that gets it exactly backward. The reason David did not want to associate with evildoers is not because he thought he was better than they were but because he was so much like them.
Matthew chapter 27 begins with the handing over of Jesus to the Gentiles in the person of Pilate, the Roman governor. This was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy as well as of Jesus’ own predictions of his death. He had warned the disciples, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.
Judas confessed that Jesus was innocent. “I have betrayed innocent blood.” was his testimony. Once again, a true statement. It was a powerful testimony to Jesus’ flawless character and a harsh indictment of the wicked character of the men who had condemned Jesus and to whom Judas spoke, But confessing the innocence of Jesus by itself never saved a single soul. Pilate did the same.
How exactly did Judas die? And how should we understand Matthew’s strange reference to Jeremiah to explain the priests’ decision to use Judas’ blood money to buy the potters field? “Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “‘They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potters field, as the Lord commanded me’” (vv. 9, 10).
Let’s get back to the story and look at a few more lessons from Judas’ actions. First, partners in evil are not friends. It is common to speak of honor among thieves or imagine sentimental bonds among those who do evil. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Those who share in evil actions are not friends, and the reason they are not is because each is evil.
One of the bad things about sin is that its course is always downhill. Judas had a bad end, but we should remember that it did not come about at once. He was an evil man, just like the rulers of the day. But Judas did not start out that way. At one time he must have been an innocent-looking baby smiling in his mother’s arms. We all begin like that. But somewhere Judas’ life took an evil downturn, and his eventual suicide was the result. What was Judas’ life story like? We do not have many details. There is no reason we should. But what we do know about him goes something like this.
Why did Pilate try so hard, grasping at no less than four stratagems, when he could not really have cared much about such matters and certainly did not have any natural instinct to act justly? One explanation is that he was probably impressed with Jesus. He seems to have marvelled at his calm self-possession and the fact that he did not try to defend himself against his accusers.
Three chapters ago when we were beginning a study of Christ’s trials, I pointed out that they present a unique situation in that Jesus was tried, on the one hand, by an ecclesiastical court, seeking to apply the revealed law of God to Jesus’ case, and, on the other hand, by a civil court seeking to apply what is generally thought to be the most highly developed law known to man.
Pilate was trapped by his own scheming. He had miscalculated. But his stubborn character still came through. He was caught, but he did not want to be defeated by the Jews religious rulers whom he obviously despised. He was defeated, but he did not give up. “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ” he demanded.
The last verses of this section take the kingship theme a bit further. For Matthew reports that even after he had been flogged in preparation for the crucifixion, Jesus was given to the soldiers who mocked him mercilessly, placing a scarlet robe on his shoulders, a crown of thorns on his head, and a staff in his hand. Then they fell before him in mock homage, crying, “Hail, king of the Jews.”
Well pick up where we left off with Charles Spurgeon yesterday: “Few, nowadays, will side with the truth their fathers bled for. The day for covenanting to follow Jesus through evil report and shame appears to have gone by. Yet, though men turn round upon us and say, ‘Do you call your gospel divine? Are you so preposterous as to believe that your religion comes from God and is to subdue the world’—we boldly answer: “Yes!”
Where do you go to find kings today? It is hard to find kings anywhere, because most have been replaced by presidents and other elected officials. Still, there a few kings left, and if you find them anywhere, you will find them in palaces. You do not find them in apartments or hovels, or walking down the street. The last place you would ever expect to find a king is on a cross.
None of the gospels describes the actual crucifixion in detail. The details were well known; there was no point in dwelling on its horrors. But the gospels do tell what happened. Matthew begins with the fact that a man from the north African town of Cyrene was drafted by the soldiers of the execution detail to carry Jesus’ cross. His name was Simon. It was usual for a condemned person to carry his own cross. So if Simon was drafted, it can only have been because Jesus was too weakened by his scourging and beatings to do it. When he staggered and possibly fell, the soldiers seized upon the first able bodied man they could find, who just happened to be Simon.
Yesterday we looked at the first of six details Matthew gives about Jesus’ crucifixion. Today we’ll look at the remaining five.
2. Gambling for Christ’s clothes (v. 35). Each of the gospels reports how the soldiers divided Christ’s clothing, though John alone explains that the gambling was actually only for Christ’s seamless outer robe, John is also the only one who says specifically that this was to fulfill Psalm 22:18, which says, “They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing” (see John 19:24).
Do you understand that it was for you that Jesus did this? And not just as an example of how to endure great suffering. That was not it at all. The point is that Jesus endured the agonies of the cross in your place. The cross was God’s punishment for your sins, and when Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” it was for you that his eternally ancient bond with the Father was broken. We find this theme again and again in the Bible.
All the gospels tell about Jesus’ crucifixion. It is the chief point of their narratives. But each has its own emphasis, and the mocking of Jesus seems to be the dominant note in Matthew. There are thirteen verses in the paragraphs we are studying, but five of them are about the taunts the passersby and the leaders had for Jesus.
We are coming to the end of Matthew, and this means that we are finding ourselves face-to-face with the core doctrines of Christianity. That is particularly the case in this and the next two studies, which cover Matthew 27:45-28:15.
The second miracle that took place when Jesus died was the tearing of the great veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place in the temple. Matthew, Mark and Luke all report the tearing of the veil. But Matthew and Mark add that it was torn “from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38), suggesting that this was something God did and that it was heavy with spiritual significance.
We need to be specific about what the rending of the veil teaches.
1. The old system of offering sacrifices year by year was over. The priests probably sewed the veil back together and went on with their traditional religious practices. But in the sight of God the old age had ended and a new age had begun. This new age embraces both Jew and Gentile within Christ’s church, which is why Paul was able to write to the Ephesians as he did.
The third miracle was the earthquake that split the rocks and broke open many of the tombs. Earthquakes themselves are not miraculous, but the timing of this one was. It was at the very moment when Jesus died. Moreover, it was the prelude to the resurrection of many holy persons. Matthew does not explain what the earthquake meant, but it probably correspond
Later on Jesus told his disciples, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). Still later, Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
Theme: Life from death.This week’s lessons show us that God is greater than the grave.
SCRIPTUREMatthew 27:57-66
Theme: Life from death.This week’s lessons show us that God is greater than the grave.
SCRIPTUREMatthew 27:57-60
Theme: Life from death.This week’s lessons show us that God is greater than the grave.
SCRIPTUREMatthew 27:62-66
Theme: Life from death.This week’s lessons show us that God is greater than the grave.
SCRIPTUREMatthew 27:63
and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’
Theme: Life from death.This week’s lessons show us that God is greater than the grave.
SCRIPTUREMatthew 27:63
and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’
Theme: The defeat of death.
This week’s lesson’s show us the joy of Jesus’ resurrection.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 28:1-15
Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.
Theme: The defeat of death.
This week’s lesson’s show us the joy of Jesus’ resurrection.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 28:5-9
But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
Theme: The defeat of death.
This week’s lesson’s show us the joy of Jesus’ resurrection.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 28:6
He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
LESSON
Theme: The defeat of death.
This week’s lessons show us the joy of Jesus’ resurrection.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 28:7
Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
LESSON
Theme: The defeat of death.
This week’s lesson’s show us the joy of Jesus’ resurrection.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 28:11-15
While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened, “When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, You are to say, His disciples came during the
Theme: Going out with the good news.
This week’s lessons teach that proclaiming the gospel is a requirement for Christians.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 28:16-20
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Theme: Going out with the good news.
This week’s lessons teach that proclaiming the gospel is a requirement for Christians.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 28:18
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
LESSON
Theme: Going out with the good news.
This week’s lessons teach that proclaiming the gospel is a requirement for Christians.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
LESSON
Theme: Going out with the good news.
This week’s lessons teach that proclaiming the gospel is a requirement for Christians.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 28:19-20
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
Theme: Going out with the good news.
This week’s lessons teach that proclaiming the gospel is a requirement for Christians.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 28:19-20
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
Theme: Knowing the Times
This week we see the dangers of legalism and modernism still among us.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 16:1-6
The Pharisees and Sadducees
Theme: Knowing the Times
This week we see the dangers of legalism and modernism still among us.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 16: 12
Then they understood that he
Theme: Christ as Judge
This week’s lesson teaches us that we hate God, and only by his grace learn to love him
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 21:28-30
“What do you think? A man had two sons.
Theme: Christ as Judge
This week’s lesson teaches us that we hate God, and only by his grace learn to love him
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 21 :42-46
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone that the builders
Theme: God’s Justice
This parable warns that we must act now, in the day of grace.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 21:33-46
“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.
The Happy ChristianMatthew 5:3-12Theme: Blessedness.This week’s lessons point us to Jesus who is the fountain of all happiness.
Lesson
The Happy ChristianMatthew 5:3-12Theme: Blessedness.This week’s lessons point us to Jesus who is the fountain of all happiness.
Lesson
The Happy ChristianMatthew 5:3-12Theme: Blessedness.This week’s lessons point us to Jesus who is the fountain of all happiness.
Lesson
The Happy ChristianMatthew 5:3-12Theme: Blessedness.This week’s lessons point us to Jesus who is the fountain of all happiness.
Lesson
The Happy ChristianMatthew 5:3-12Theme: Blessedness.This week’s lessons point us to Jesus who is the fountain of all happiness.
Lesson
Christ with Us AlwaysMatthew 28:18-20Theme: All authority.This week’s lessons remind us that Christ’s presence is what gives power to evangelism.
Lesson
Christ with Us AlwaysMatthew 28:18-20Theme: All authority.This week’s lessons remind us that Christ’s presence is what gives power to evangelism.
Lesson
Christ with Us AlwaysMatthew 28:18-20Theme: All authority.This week’s lessons remind us that Christ’s presence is what gives power to evangelism.
Lesson
Christ with Us AlwaysMatthew 28:18-20Theme: All authority.This week’s lessons remind us that Christ’s presence is what gives power to evangelism.
Lesson
Christ with Us AlwaysMatthew 28:18-20Theme: All authority.This week’s lessons remind us that Christ’s presence is what gives power to evangelism.
Lesson
Theme: When Jesus Gave Thanks
During this Thanksgiving week, we learn how to render thanks to the Lord through the prayers of thanksgiving from Jesus himself.
Scripture: Matthew 14:19
Theme: What We Learn about Jesus from His Prayers
During this Thanksgiving week, we learn how to render thanks to the Lord through the prayers of thanksgiving from Jesus himself.
Scripture: Matthew 14:19
The accounts of Jesus offering a prayer of thanks at meals where he is presiding enables us to reflect on who Jesus is.
Theme: Imitating Jesus in Our Prayers
During this Thanksgiving week, we learn how to render thanks to the Lord through the prayers of thanksgiving from Jesus himself.
Scripture: Matthew 14:19
In so small a matter of thanking God for his food, Jesus becomes an example to us. What is it that we can learn from his behavior? As we saw yesterday, we should give thanks for even the smallest things. Today we examine three more points.
Theme: Giving Thanks Publicly
During this Thanksgiving week, we learn how to render thanks to the Lord through the prayers of thanksgiving from Jesus himself.
Scripture: Matthew 14:19
On this Thanksgiving Day, we continue our look at Jesus’ example to us in so small a matter as thanking God for his food.
Theme: How to Give Thanks
During this Thanksgiving week, we learn how to render thanks to the Lord through the prayers of thanksgiving from Jesus himself.
Scripture: Matthew 14:19
So what should we do this Thanksgiving weekend? I suggest that we should follow our Lord’s example and thank God in each of these ways I have tried to point out in this study.
The fourth step in the cure of anger must be added to these three obvious steps on the basis of all that Christ is saying. We must ask God to change our heart because only God is able to do it.
Sermon: Sex and the Christian Marriage
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
In this week’s lessons, we learn how contemporary culture approaches sex, and see how Christians are to think and act differently, as Jesus taught.
Theme: A Playboy World
Sermon: Sex and the Christian Marriage
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
In this week’s lessons, we learn how contemporary culture approaches sex, and see how Christians are to think and act differently, as Jesus taught.
Theme: The “New Morality”
Sermon: Sex and the Christian Marriage
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
In this week’s lessons, we learn how contemporary culture approaches sex, and see how Christians are to think and act differently, as Jesus taught.
Theme: Is There a Cure?
Sermon: Sex and the Christian Marriage
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
In this week’s lessons, we learn how contemporary culture approaches sex, and see how Christians are to think and act differently, as Jesus taught.
Theme: He Who Runs Away
Sermon: Sex and the Christian Marriage
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
In this week’s lessons, we learn how contemporary culture approaches sex, and see how Christians are to think and act differently, as Jesus taught.
Theme: Christian Marriage
In the final analysis, however, even running is not the solution. For although it will help for the moment, it will not do so permanently. Real and lasting victory requires a more powerful and more vigorous philosophy to defeat it.
Sermon: What Makes a Marriage Christian
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
In this week’s lessons, we see that marriage is established by God, and serves to illustrate the relationship of Christ with His Church.
Theme: A Divine Institution
Sermon: What Makes a Marriage Christian
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
In this week’s lessons, we see that marriage is established by God, and serves to illustrate the relationship of Christ with His Church.
Theme: Body with Body
Sermon: What Makes a Marriage Christian
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
In this week’s lessons, we see that marriage is established by God, and serves to illustrate the relationship of Christ with His Church.
Theme: Soul with Soul
Sermon: What Makes a Marriage Christian
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
In this week’s lessons, we see that marriage is established by God, and serves to illustrate the relationship of Christ with His Church.
Theme: Spirit with Spirit
Sermon: What Makes a Marriage Christian
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
In this week’s lessons, we see that marriage is established by God, and serves to illustrate the relationship of Christ with His Church.
Theme: Christ and the Church
Sermon: Husbands, Wives, and Children
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
In this week’s lessons, we learn how a family is to function, and what the responsibilities are of husbands, wives, and children.
Theme: God’s Word to Wives
Sermon: Husbands, Wives, and Children
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
In this week’s lessons, we learn how a family is to function, and what the responsibilities are of husbands, wives, and children.
Theme: The Meaning of Submission
Sermon: Husbands, Wives, and Children
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
In this week’s lessons, we learn how a family is to function, and what the responsibilities are of husbands, wives, and children.
Theme: God’s Word to Husbands
Sermon: Husbands, Wives, and Children
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
In this week’s lessons, we learn how a family is to function, and what the responsibilities are of husbands, wives, and children.
Theme: Parents and Children
Sermon: Husbands, Wives, and Children
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
In this week’s lessons, we learn how a family is to function, and what the responsibilities are of husbands, wives, and children.
Theme: Life Out of Death
We have touched on many things in this study of the home, but it will be of little benefit unless each of us will put it into effect practically.
Sermon: Divorce and Remarriage
Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32
In this week’s lessons, we look at the subjects of divorce and remarriage, and learn what the biblical standards are for those who are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Theme: The Key Passages
Sermon: Divorce and Remarriage
Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32
In this week’s lessons, we look at the subjects of divorce and remarriage, and learn what the biblical standards are for those who are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Theme: Permanency of Marriage
Sermon: Divorce and Remarriage
Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32
In this week’s lessons, we look at the subjects of divorce and remarriage, and learn what the biblical standards are for those who are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Theme: What Is Fornication?
Sermon: Divorce and Remarriage
Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32
In this week’s lessons, we look at the subjects of divorce and remarriage, and learn what the biblical standards are for those who are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Theme: Deuteronomy 24
Yesterday, we concluded with the first reason why the exception clause of fornication in both Matthew 19 and Matthew 5 does not refer to adultery.
Sermon: Divorce and Remarriage
Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32
In this week’s lessons, we look at the subjects of divorce and remarriage, and learn what the biblical standards are for those who are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Theme: God’s Standards
Sermon: For Time and Eternity
Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32
In this week’s lessons, we learn what faithfulness in marriage means through a dramatic illustration from the life of the prophet Hosea.
Theme: Hosea and Gomer
Sermon: For Time and Eternity
Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32
In this week’s lessons, we learn what faithfulness in marriage means through a dramatic illustration from the life of the prophet Hosea.
Theme: Gomer and Her Lovers
Sermon: For Time and Eternity
Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32
In this week’s lessons, we learn what faithfulness in marriage means through a dramatic illustration from the life of the prophet Hosea.
Theme: Gomer the Slave
Sermon: For Time and Eternity
Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32
In this week’s lessons, we learn what faithfulness in marriage means through a dramatic illustration from the life of the prophet Hosea.
Theme: God’s Faithfulness
Sermon: For Time and Eternity
Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32
In this week’s lessons, we learn what faithfulness in marriage means through a dramatic illustration from the life of the prophet Hosea.
Theme: True Marriage
“In the light of this story we see the inner meaning of marriage as set forth in the Word of God. Marriage is the union of Christ and the Church.
Sermon: To Tell the Truth
Scripture: Matthew 5:33-37
In this week’s lessons, we see the importance of telling the truth, and of the need to cultivate a godly heart and mind.
Theme: The Need for the Truth
Sermon: To Tell the Truth
Scripture: Matthew 5:33-37
In this week’s lessons, we see the importance of telling the truth, and of the need to cultivate a godly heart and mind.
Theme: The Taking of Oaths
Sermon: To Tell the Truth
Scripture: Matthew 5:33-37
In this week’s lessons, we see the importance of telling the truth, and of the need to cultivate a godly heart and mind.
Theme: Man’s Oaths
Sermon: To Tell the Truth
Scripture: Matthew 5:33-37
In this week’s lessons, we see the importance of telling the truth, and of the need to cultivate a godly heart and mind.
Theme: Evasive Oaths
Sermon: To Tell the Truth
Scripture: Matthew 5:33-37
In this week’s lessons, we see the importance of telling the truth, and of the need to cultivate a godly heart and mind.
Theme: Control of the Mind
Sermon: Have We No Rights?
Scripture: Matthew 5:38-42
In this week’s lessons, we see that we are not to demand our rights, but instead, like Jesus, we are to pattern his self-sacrifice and service.
Theme: Eating Loss
Sermon: Have We No Rights?
Scripture: Matthew 5:38-42
In this week’s lessons, we see that we are not to demand our rights, but instead, like Jesus, we are to pattern his self-sacrifice and service.
Theme: The Right to Retaliation
Sermon: Have We No Rights?
Scripture: Matthew 5:38-42
In this week’s lessons, we see that we are not to demand our rights, but instead, like Jesus, we are to pattern his self-sacrifice and service.
Theme: Our Great Example
Sermon: Have We No Rights?
Scripture: Matthew 5:38-42
In this week’s lessons, we see that we are not to demand our rights, but instead, like Jesus, we are to pattern his self-sacrifice and service.
Theme: The Right to Our Time and Money
Sermon: Have We No Rights?
Scripture: Matthew 5:38-42
In this week’s lessons, we see that we are not to demand our rights, but instead, like Jesus, we are to pattern his self-sacrifice and service.
Theme: Cross-Bearing
Let me close by making this personal. What is your attitude toward all that I have been saying? Are you still dealing with the questions of your rights and your wrongs? Or are you learning to live the kind of life lived for us by the Lord Jesus?
Sermon: Love Your Enemies
Scripture: Matthew 5:43-47
In this week’s lessons, we learn how to love our enemies with the divine love that only God gives us in Christ.
Theme: Divine Love
Sermon: Love Your Enemies
Scripture: Matthew 5:43-47
In this week’s lessons, we learn how to love our enemies with the divine love that only God gives us in Christ.
Theme: Love on the Cross
Yesterday we looked at the first Greek word for love, which does not appear in the New Testament. Today we will look at the other three.
Sermon: Love Your Enemies
Scripture: Matthew 5:43-47
In this week’s lessons, we learn how to love our enemies with the divine love that only God gives us in Christ.
Theme: Dying for Sinners
Sermon: Love Your Enemies
Scripture: Matthew 5:43-47
In this week’s lessons, we learn how to love our enemies with the divine love that only God gives us in Christ.
Theme: Loving, Not Liking
Sermon: Love Your Enemies
Scripture: Matthew 5:43-47
In this week’s lessons, we learn how to love our enemies with the divine love that only God gives us in Christ.
Theme: Christ in You
Sermon: Perfection for Saints
Scripture: Matthew 5:48
In this week’s lessons, we learn what it means to be perfect as God is perfect, that it is a work of God that involves the past, the present, and the future.
Theme: The Most Important Verse in the Sermon
Sermon: Perfection for Saints
Scripture: Matthew 5:48
In this week’s lessons, we learn what it means to be perfect as God is perfect, that it is a work of God that involves the past, the present, and the future.
Theme: God’s Working
Sermon: Perfection for Saints
Scripture: Matthew 5:48
In this week’s lessons, we learn what it means to be perfect as God is perfect, that it is a work of God that involves the past, the present, and the future.
Theme: Growing in Perfection
Sermon: Perfection for Saints
Scripture: Matthew 5:48
In this week’s lessons, we learn what it means to be perfect as God is perfect, that it is a work of God that involves the past, the present, and the future.
Theme: An Inflexible Purpose
Sermon: Perfection for Saints
Scripture: Matthew 5:48
In this week’s lessons, we learn what it means to be perfect as God is perfect, that it is a work of God that involves the past, the present, and the future.
Theme: Until the Day of Jesus Christ
Sermon: How to Invest in God’s Program
Scripture: Matthew 6:1-4
In this week’s lessons, we learn about the principle of giving, and the blessings that come from the Lord upon both the giver and the recipient.
Theme: The Source of Charity
Sermon: How to Invest in God’s Program
Scripture: Matthew 6:1-4
In this week’s lessons, we learn about the principle of giving, and the blessings that come from the Lord upon both the giver and the recipient.
Theme: A Matter of the Heart
Yesterday, we concluded by saying that the charity of the early Church was a new and amazing thing to its contemporaries.
Sermon: How to Invest in God’s Program
Scripture: Matthew 6:1-4
In this week’s lessons, we learn about the principle of giving, and the blessings that come from the Lord upon both the giver and the recipient.
Theme: First Given to the Lord
Sermon: How to Invest in God’s Program
Scripture: Matthew 6:1-4
In this week’s lessons, we learn about the principle of giving, and the blessings that come from the Lord upon both the giver and the recipient.
Theme: Spiritual Giving
Sermon: How to Invest in God’s Program
Scripture: Matthew 6:1-4
In this week’s lessons, we learn about the principle of giving, and the blessings that come from the Lord upon both the giver and the recipient.
Theme: Sacrificial Giving
Sermon: How to Pray
Scripture: Matthew 6:5-8
In this week’s lessons, we learn three great principles of prayer, and how we can pray with confidence.
Theme: A Confusing Subject
The second great example of godly living discussed by Jesus Christ in the second chapter of the Sermon on the Mount is prayer. It is an important subject, for prayer is at least partially confusing to us all.
Sermon: How to Pray
Scripture: Matthew 6:5-8
In this week’s lessons, we learn three great principles of prayer, and how we can pray with confidence.
Theme: Praying to God
Sermon: How to Pray
Scripture: Matthew 6:5-8
In this week’s lessons, we learn three great principles of prayer, and how we can pray with confidence.
Theme: Through the Lord Jesus Christ
In yesterday’s study we concluded by talking about the necessity of recognizing that when we pray we are coming into God’s presence.
Sermon: How to Pray
Scripture: Matthew 6:5-8
In this week’s lessons, we learn three great principles of prayer, and how we can pray with confidence.
Theme: In the Holy Spirit
Sermon: How to Pray
Scripture: Matthew 6:5-8
In this week’s lessons, we learn three great principles of prayer, and how we can pray with confidence.
Theme: Praying with Confidence
Sermon: Our Father, Our Daddy
Scripture: Matthew 6:9
In this week’s lessons, we see how we are enabled to approach God in prayer because of the reconciling work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Theme: The Lord’s Prayer
Sermon: Our Father, Our Daddy
Scripture: Matthew 6:9
In this week’s lessons, we see how we are enabled to approach God in prayer because of the reconciling work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Theme: Our Father
The first words of the Lord’s Prayer are an address to God as our heavenly Father. For Jesus said, “After this manner, therefore, pray ye: Our Father, who art in heaven.” These words tell us who can pray and what the privileges of access are for them.
Sermon: Our Father, Our Daddy
Scripture: Matthew 6:9
In this week’s lessons, we see how we are enabled to approach God in prayer because of the reconciling work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Theme: God’s Children
Yesterday we said that during the time of Jesus, the distance between God and man seemed to be widening, such that the names of God were increasingly withheld from public speech and prayers.
Sermon: Our Father, Our Daddy
Scripture: Matthew 6:9
In this week’s lessons, we see how we are enabled to approach God in prayer because of the reconciling work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Theme: Abba, Father
Yesterday we concluded with the tense exchange between Jesus and his opponents in John 8, in which we saw that not everyone who was related to Abraham by birth was truly a child of God.
Sermon: Our Father, Our Daddy
Scripture: Matthew 6:9
In this week’s lessons, we see how we are enabled to approach God in prayer because of the reconciling work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Theme: My Daddy
Sermon: Hallowed Be Thy Name
Scripture: Matthew 6:9
In this week’s lessons, we learn more of who God is, and what it means to hallow His name.
Theme: What God Desires
Sermon: Hallowed Be Thy Name
Scripture: Matthew 6:9
In this week’s lessons, we learn more of who God is, and what it means to hallow His name.
Theme: The Meaning of “Hallowed”
Sermon: Hallowed Be Thy Name
Scripture: Matthew 6:9
In this week’s lessons, we learn more of who God is, and what it means to hallow His name.
Theme: God’s Names
Sermon: Hallowed Be Thy Name
Scripture: Matthew 6:9
In this week’s lessons, we learn more of who God is, and what it means to hallow His name.
Theme: None Like Him
And what about that greatest name of all, the Lord Jesus Christ? In Him all other names are combined. In Him all of the characteristics of God are made manifest. One hymn writer has written:
O could I speak the matchless worth,
O could I sound the glories forth
Which in my Savior shine,
Sermon: Hallowed Be Thy Name
Scripture: Matthew 6:9
In this week’s lessons, we learn more of who God is, and what it means to hallow His name.
Theme: Creator and Redeemer
Sermon: Thy Kingdom Come
Scripture: Matthew 6:10
In this week’s lessons, we learn what the kingdom of God is and how it manifests itself on earth.
Theme: God’s Kingdom
Sermon: Thy Kingdom Come
Scripture: Matthew 6:10
In this week’s lessons, we learn what the kingdom of God is and how it manifests itself on earth.
Theme: God’s Kingdom on Earth
Sermon: Thy Kingdom Come
Scripture: Matthew 6:10
In this week’s lessons, we learn what the kingdom of God is and how it manifests itself on earth.
Theme: How the Kingdom Does Not Come
Sermon: Thy Kingdom Come
Scripture: Matthew 6:10
In this week’s lessons, we learn what the kingdom of God is and how it manifests itself on earth.
Theme: Parables of the Kingdom
Sermon: Thy Kingdom Come
Scripture: Matthew 6:10
In this week’s lessons, we learn what the kingdom of God is and how it manifests itself on earth.
Theme: The Coming Kingdom
Now it should be evident from the imperfect nature of the kingdom of God, as we see it today, that there is yet to be a kingdom in which the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ is totally recognized.
Sermon: Your Will, Or God’s?
Scripture: Matthew 6:10
In this week’s lessons, we learn what it means to pray that the Lord’s will be done, rather than ours.
Theme: Many Wills
Sermon: Your Will, Or God’s?
Scripture: Matthew 6:10
In this week’s lessons, we learn what it means to pray that the Lord’s will be done, rather than ours.
Theme: When Wills Collide
Yesterday, we concluded by looking at the first two expressions of Satan’s will over against God. Today, we begin by addressing the other three.
Sermon: Your Will, Or God’s?
Scripture: Matthew 6:10
In this week’s lessons, we learn what it means to pray that the Lord’s will be done, rather than ours.
Theme: God’s Word
Now someone will say, “That is all very well and good, but what does that have to do with me?” Well, it has everything to do with you. For happiness and joy will come to your life only as you allow God to bend your will to His.
Sermon: Your Will, Or God’s?
Scripture: Matthew 6:10
In this week’s lessons, we learn what it means to pray that the Lord’s will be done, rather than ours.
Theme: God’s Will for Christians
Sermon: Your Will, Or God’s?
Scripture: Matthew 6:10
In this week’s lessons, we learn what it means to pray that the Lord’s will be done, rather than ours.
Theme: Thy Will Be Done
Sermon: What to Pray For
Scripture: Matthew 6:11
In this week’s lessons, after first praying for God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will, Jesus also taught us how to pray for things that pertain to our own interests.
Theme: Our Willing God
Sermon: What to Pray For
Scripture: Matthew 6:11
In this week’s lessons, after first praying for God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will, Jesus also taught us how to pray for things that pertain to our own interests.
Theme: The Need to Be God’s Child
Sermon: What to Pray For
Scripture: Matthew 6:11
In this week’s lessons, after first praying for God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will, Jesus also taught us how to pray for things that pertain to our own interests.
Theme: Our Daily Bread
When we say that this prayer is a simple prayer for the things that we have need of every day and that God invites this type of praying, certain great truths emerge from it.
Sermon: What to Pray For
Scripture: Matthew 6:11
In this week’s lessons, after first praying for God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will, Jesus also taught us how to pray for things that pertain to our own interests.
Theme: Spiritual Necessities
We must not leave this request for our daily bread without pointing out that we need spiritual nourishment also. This is the third point. We need to feed spiritually on God.
Sermon: What to Pray For
Scripture: Matthew 6:11
In this week’s lessons, after first praying for God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will, Jesus also taught us how to pray for things that pertain to our own interests.
Theme: Praying for Others
Sermon: Forgiveness Guaranteed
Scripture: Matthew 6:12
In this week’s lessons, we see the connection between the Christian’s continuing need of forgiveness from God, and our need to forgive others who wrong us.
Theme: Our Need for Forgiveness
Sermon: Forgiveness Guaranteed
Scripture: Matthew 6:12
In this week’s lessons, we see the connection between the Christian’s continuing need of forgiveness from God, and our need to forgive others who wrong us.
Theme: Forgiveness for Believers
Sermon: Forgiveness Guaranteed
Scripture: Matthew 6:12
In this week’s lessons, we see the connection between the Christian’s continuing need of forgiveness from God, and our need to forgive others who wrong us.
Theme: Assurance
Sermon: Forgiveness Guaranteed
Scripture: Matthew 6:12
In this week’s lessons, we see the connection between the Christian’s continuing need of forgiveness from God, and our need to forgive others who wrong us.
Theme: Forgiveness in Advance
Sermon: Forgiveness Guaranteed
Scripture: Matthew 6:12
In this week’s lessons, we see the connection between the Christian’s continuing need of forgiveness from God, and our need to forgive others who wrong us.
Theme: Debtors
Sermon: How to Defeat Temptation
Scripture: Matthew 6:13
In this week’s lessons, we learn what temptation is, where it comes from, and what we are to do in order to defeat it.
Theme: Deliverance from Temptation
At the very end of the sixteenth century, after the Protestant Reformation in Europe and the wars that had followed upon it, an anonymous Christian wrote some lines that aptly summarize much of what the Bible has to say about temptation. He wrote:
In all the strife of mortal life,
Sermon: How to Defeat Temptation
Scripture: Matthew 6:13
In this week’s lessons, we learn what temptation is, where it comes from, and what we are to do in order to defeat it.
Theme: Types of Temptation
In yesterday’s study, we concluded by saying that the word “temptation” can have two meanings. It can denote a tempting to sin—which is what we commonly understand by the word—or it can refer to the idea of a trial, ordeal, or testing.
Sermon: How to Defeat Temptation
Scripture: Matthew 6:13
In this week’s lessons, we learn what temptation is, where it comes from, and what we are to do in order to defeat it.
Theme: Submit and Resist
Sermon: How to Defeat Temptation
Scripture: Matthew 6:13
In this week’s lessons, we learn what temptation is, where it comes from, and what we are to do in order to defeat it.
Theme: The Lord’s Example
I want to give you one final example of how temptation can be resisted, and the best example I can give is the account of the temptation of Jesus Christ recorded in Matthew 4.
Let me ask the question again that I asked yesterday. How did Jesus resist the temptations that are recorded in Matthew 4? Well, in the first place, He had just spent forty days in fasting and in prayer. In the second place, He replied to the devil in every instance by quoting Scripture.
The first two examples of Christian piety that Jesus gives in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount do not seem particularly difficult. They are giving to the poor and praying. To most people, almsgiving and prayer make sense and are familiar, even though they may not understand them completely or practice them. This is not true of Christ’s third example. The third example is fasting, which means abstaining from food for some spiritual end. Not only does this not seem necessary to most persons, to many it even seems quite foolish or absurd.
The first real clue to what fasting should mean today comes from a study of the Bible. For the clue is seen in the fact that in the Old Testament period fasting had an entirely different purpose than it does in the New. What is more, the pivotal text upon which this change takes place is the text we are studying in Matthew.
Sermon: Fasting
Scripture: Matthew 6:16-18
In this week’s lessons, we learn what Jesus said about fasting, and consider its implications for us today.
Theme: New Testament Teaching
Here is a great change in the use and purpose of fasting, and the change may be traced to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ that we are studying. What did He say? He did not say that fasting was a form of outward piety. He did not consider it an exercise for the subjection of the body. He did not hold it forth as a means of social protest. He taught that it was to be a personal exercise between the individual soul and God.
Sometimes, our fasting will lead us away from such things as entertainment, perhaps from television. This was the experience of David Wilkerson, whose story is told in the best-selling book, The Cross and the Switchblade. Wilkerson had been the pastor of a small Assemblies of God church in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, but although the church had grown and the congregation had been able to erect several new buildings, the pastor himself was restless. One night as he sat watching the “late show” on television, the idea came to him that he might profit from spending the time he usually spent watching television, praying. In other words, he might fast from television and then see what happened.
After the great teachings in the first half of Matthew 6 about the spiritual life of the Christian, the Lord Jesus Christ turned to warnings about the personal failures that most often deprive a believer of spiritual victories and nullify his witness. In these verses (Matthew 6:19-7:5), Jesus warns against a love of possessions, anxiety, and a judgmental attitude toward others.
In this, as in all other areas of the Christian life, the true solution does not lie in abstinence or withdrawal. It lies in the proper use and the proper estimate of the things that God has provided. In other words, we are not called upon to relinquish things but rather to use them under God’s direction for the health and well-being of ourselves and our family, for material aid to others, and for the great task of proclaiming the Gospel and promoting Christian verities.
In yesterday’s study we said that it is not a requirement that Christians give up their possessions; rather, we are to use them for the benefit of others and for the advancement of the Gospel. This is precisely what Jesus himself was teaching in the verses concerned with money and possessions from the Sermon on the Mount. For Jesus was not speaking against possessions. He was speaking against a ruinous preoccupation with them. He said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:19-21).
The third reason Jesus Christ warns His followers about an improper concern for possessions occurs in verses 22 and 23. It has to do with our spiritual vision. Jesus said, “The lamp of the body is the eye; if, therefore, thine eye be healthy, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!”
The final verse of our section deals with the mutually exclusive nature of serving God and riches. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Nothing could be said more clearly, or be more obvious. And it should be a heart-searching question for us all. Could anything be more insulting to God, who has redeemed us from the slavery of sin in Christ and has given us all things richly to enjoy, than to take the name of our God upon us, to be called by His name, and then to demonstrate by every action and every decision of life that we actually serve money?
In yesterday’s study, we saw that Jesus provided a cure for anxiety by what He said in Matthew 6: “Therefore, I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on… For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you” (vv. 25, 32-33).
Now what are those three teachings? The first is found in verse 24, which is, properly speaking, the conclusion to Christ’s words about money. In that section of the Sermon Jesus taught that a love of money was harmful because it is impossible for a person to serve God and money at the same time. Now He says that for the same reason His followers are not to be anxious about some future happening or provision.
Sermon: Free from Worry
Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34
In this week’s lessons, we learn that not only does Jesus warn us not to worry, but he also provides us with a cure in commanding us not to do it.
Theme: The Man Who Never Worries
In the second half of Matthew six, in the midst of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had been talking about failures that will render a Christian apathetic in regard to Christian service. They are a love of money and anxiety. Both of these will have a desensitizing effect on his witness, for if a Christian has his mind centered on things (either to accumulate them or to worry about them) he will not see God and, hence, he cannot serve Him. At this point, however, Jesus goes on to show that there is also a type of zeal that will ruin his witness. This is a zeal for judging others. It is harmful because it will turn a believer into a sharp and unjust critic of his Christian brothers.
In the second half of Matthew six, in the midst of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had been talking about failures that will render a Christian apathetic in regard to Christian service. They are a love of money and anxiety. Both of these will have a desensitizing effect on his witness, for if a Christian has his mind centered on things (either to accumulate them or to worry about them) he will not see God and, hence, he cannot serve Him. At this point, however, Jesus goes on to show that there is also a type of zeal that will ruin his witness. This is a zeal for judging others. It is harmful because it will turn a believer into a sharp and unjust critic of his Christian brothers.
Now all of this really leads up to one great final point, and that is the need for love. We all need love. We need to love. And the reason is simply that when we are filled with love we will find ourselves uninterested in finding a speck in the eye of the other person.
If you discover that a beam is blocking the flow of God’s love in your life, as these beams were blocking the river, then you must know that the only solution is the one to be found in Jesus. He is the Great Physician, and He is able to extract both motes and beams because there is nothing to hinder His vision. Besides, he will give you a vision of His glory, as you look to Him, that will then be reflected from your purified eye to others.
It is a characteristic of the Christian religion that most of its doctrines are totally unacceptable to most men. Or, to put it another way, most of what the Bible teaches is offensive.
In yesterday’s devotional, we concluded by saying that the Bible teaches that not everyone will be saved. Moreover, among those who will not be saved are some who are so opposed to God’s truth that the Christian should have no dealings with them.
We said yesterday that the only prayer God will ever hear from an unbeliever is the prayer that asks for salvation. Moreover, isn’t this precisely what we have in the example of the Lord Jesus Christ? There are persons who think of Jesus as going about the countryside preaching the Gospel to everyone who would listen and telling them all about His kingdom. However, this is inaccurate. It is probably closer to the truth to say that Jesus was the most discriminating of all preachers in terms of what He taught and to whom He taught it.
Besides wrongly admitting people into church membership without a clear statement of faith, I am afraid, too, that there are many persons in our day for whom the Lord’s table has become a curse rather than a God-given blessing. For it has led many a person to think that he is right with God merely because he has followed some rite of the Christian religion.
Now I have really dealt with the problem of spiritual discrimination, unpleasant as it may have been. But before we end this study we can note a few entirely different but very pleasant things suggested by the word “pearls.”
If a young man wants to ask his father for something, he will pattern his request on the nature and the temperament of his father. If the father is ill-tempered and stingy, the young man will ask for little. He will take care to present his need in the most winsome and unobjectionable manner. If the father is good-natured and is generous, the child will present his need openly and with great confidence.
If we are to exercise the spiritual discrimination and judgment that Christ was talking about in verse six (“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine”), then we must apply verses 7-11 to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ only. We must read the verse this way: “Ask [you who are born again], and it shall be given you [who are born again]; seek [you who are born again], and you [who are born again] shall find; knock [you who are born again], and it shall be opened unto you [who are born again].” Prayer is for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ only.
The second obvious teaching of these verses is that even if we are Christians, we must ask for the thing that God promises. This section of God’s Word contains the positive statement of the principle (“Ask, and it shall be given you”). James 4:2 contains the negative statement (“Ye have not, because ye ask not”). But the teaching of both texts is identical. God delights to give good gifts to His children. Hence, if we do not have them, the fault does not lie in God. It lies in our failure to ask things of Him.
What else do we need in our churches that we are not receiving? Do we lack suitable candidates for church office? Or those for missions? Do we lack Sunday school teachers or church workers? If so, it is because we are not asking. Jesus said, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into the harvest” (Matt. 9:37-38).
I know that there is something about the idea of prevailing prayer that, at least on the surface, seems contrary to a Calvinistic way of thinking, but the conflict is only superficial. In two of the parables of the Lord Jesus, there is the story of a person who prevailed in a request by means of perseverance. In Luke 11:5-10, there is the story of a man who lacked food to feed a guest who arrived at his home at midnight. He went to his neighbor. At first the neighbor did not want to be bothered, but at last he gave the things that were needed because of the man’s persistence.
The Golden Rule, which is found in the seventh chapter of Matthew, verse 12, is probably the most universally praised statement that Jesus ever made. It has been called “the topmost peak of social ethics… the Everest of all ethical teaching.”
At this point, then, we have actually reached the first great statement of the solution to the problem of human morality. But before we pursue it, it is necessary to see that the major effect that the Golden Rule was intended to have on human goodness was to condemn it. It wipes it out. By this standard, all natural human goodness is condemned, and being weighed in the balances, is found wanting.
Yesterday, we concluded by saying that if we think of a ruler as a straightedge, as the British call it, we then have the idea that what we call the Golden Rule shows us how morally crooked we are, compared with the perfect straightness of God’s moral purity.
Now at this point many very good studies would stop. For this is the Christian Gospel, and it lies at the heart of all Scripture. It is a good place to end. However, I believe that if I were to end here, I would be untrue to this text before me. For the Sermon on the Mount was given, as we saw in one of our earlier studies, not merely to drive a man to Christ (although that is the first thing necessary), but also to set forth that standard of morality to which God is constantly leading the Christian.
People ask me when they should pray and how they should pray. Sometimes they even ask, “Why should I pray?” Well, it’s with questions like these that we want to deal, and many of them are answered when we realize that prayer is basically talking with God. Therefore it should be as natural for us to pray as for a child to come to his parents for guidance, for consolation, help, or merely sharing the day’s experiences. If you are a child of God—as the Bible says you are if you have admitted that you are a sinner, believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, and committed yourself to Him—then there need be no restrictions on the time, place or manner in which you speak to Him.
In yesterday’s study, I said that people sometimes ask me questions such as when they should pray, how they should pray, or even why they should pray. Now all these questions have been asked by others, and they were asked in Christ’s day. So when Jesus began to teach about prayer, He dealt with them—sometimes by direct teaching, and at other times by example, as in the Lord’s Prayer, one of His most helpful teachings about prayer. Jesus said, “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and at the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy room, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father, who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the pagans do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye, therefore, like unto them; for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him” (Matt. 6:5-8).
If we are to exercise the spiritual discrimination and judgment that Christ was talking about in verse six (“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine”), then we must apply verses 7-11 to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ only. We must read the verse this way: “Ask [you who are born again], and it shall be given you [who are born again]; seek [you who are born again], and you [who are born again] shall find; knock [you who are born again], and it shall be opened unto you [who are born again].” Prayer is for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ only.
The second obvious teaching of these verses is that even if we are Christians, we must ask for the thing that God promises. This section of God’s Word contains the positive statement of the principle (“Ask, and it shall be given you”). James 4:2 contains the negative statement (“Ye have not, because ye ask not”). But the teaching of both texts is identical. God delights to give good gifts to His children. Hence, if we do not have them, the fault does not lie in God. It lies in our failure to ask things of Him.
What else do we need in our churches that we are not receiving? Do we lack suitable candidates for church office? Or those for missions? Do we lack Sunday school teachers or church workers? If so, it is because we are not asking. Jesus said, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into the harvest” (Matt. 9:37-38).
I know that there is something about the idea of prevailing prayer that, at least on the surface, seems contrary to a Calvinistic way of thinking, but the conflict is only superficial. In two of the parables of the Lord Jesus, there is the story of a person who prevailed in a request by means of perseverance. In Luke 11:5-10, there is the story of a man who lacked food to feed a guest who arrived at his home at midnight. He went to his neighbor. At first the neighbor did not want to be bothered, but at last he gave the things that were needed because of the man’s persistence.
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