Matthew 7:7,8 Ask, Seek, Knock
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (NIV).
I’ve been told that in the Greek this is written in the “imperative present” tense. In English it is the “present perfect progressive” tense. That simply means that ask, seek, and knock are continuing—they have been going on in the past, they are going on now, and they will continue in the future. The implication is that we should not stop asking, be persistent in prayer. In Luke 18 Jesus told a parable that illustrated that we should “always pray and not lose heart” (NIV). An unjust judge was being asked to do something by a widow, and he refused, but she kept on asking. Finally, he relented and did as she asked. The point being, if an unjust judge does this, shall not God hear His own who call upon Him persistently?
In the above paragraph, I said that these words were written in the “imperative present” tense. Matthew Henry says that “imperative” means, “asking insistently without qualms as a suppliant, but not demanding.” We have the right to ask of God but not to demand of Him. David Jeremiah says that God will answer, and His answer may be “no,” or “slow,” or “grow,” or “go.”
A “no” answer means that what is being asked may be harmful. A “slow” answer means not yet, the timing is not right. A “grow” answer obviously means that I need to grow before I can make correct use of what I have been asking, and a “go” answer means,” Yes,it’s yours; go with it.”
Asking is often the first step in a learning process. We ask, and God tells us to seek. We seek His Word, meditate on it, then read it again, and meditate upon it some more until we understand what all is involved in what we have been asking. Then we humbly go back to knock on God’s door and ask for His wisdom in what we have asked.
Yes, asking, seeking, and knocking are means by which we get our prayers answered. Sometimes all three go in order, and sometimes each one may be a stand--alone. In any case, we are talking with God and deepening our relationship with Him and that is always worthwhile.
John 10:17,18 I Lay Down My Life
“The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father” (NIV).
Jesus spoke these words immediately after He explained that He would be bringing in sheep from another sheepfold, so they apply to us Gentiles. Jesus laid His life down, and Jesus took it up again. He died on Calvary and He rose from the garden tomb. Our salvation, and the salvation for all the peoples of the world, lies within the words of that sentence. When He died, He took all of our sins, that’s right--all the sins of all of us to hell and left them there. While He was in that frightful place, He defeated satan in front of satan’s minions, and He brought us victory over death and sin. He paid the sin debt for ALL.
In John 10:17,18, Jesus makes it clear that He gave His life, no one took it from Him. He had great purpose in giving His life. By doing so He provided for salvation for every man, woman, and child who ever lived, lives, or will live on this planet. He also tells us in those two verses that He had authority to take His life up again. The authority to do both, give and take His life, was given to Him by Father God. “This command I received from my Father.”
Bottom line: Father God sent Jesus with the command to give Hs life and take it up again, and in doing that Jeus provided for the salvation of EVERYONE. The price has been paid. All we have to do is accept this gift of forgiveness and eternal life with God--Father, Son, Holy Spirit--will be guaranteed. The greatest “Christmas gift” was actually given on Easter! Receive this gift today, untie the ribbon, tear the paper off, open the box, and begin the joy of eternal life with Christ immediately.
John 10:15,16 Sheep of Another Flock
Everyone who was not of the nation of Israel was a Gentile, so that’s us. Up to this time, the people of Israel believed that they had a monopoly on their God and His love. Jesus is making it plain to them that others will be brought into the fellowship of Father God. They will be members, as will His chosen people, Israel. The love of God has been for all mankind since eternity past, but He had called the nation of Israel to be His “chosen people.” They were chosen to be the people from whom the Messiah would come, and that has happened. I’m sure at that time that the two words, “Gentile” and “pagan” had similar meanings for the people of Israel, so it must have been somewhat of a surprise to those who heard Jesus speak the words of John 10:16.
In Romans 11:13, Paul states, “I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry” (NIV). And in Romans 15:15,16 he says, “Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God sanctioned by the Holy Spirit” (NIV). I find it interesting that God chose a most Jewish person to represent Him to the Gentiles. In Acts 22:3, Paul tells us, "...I am a Jew born in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today" (NIV). Paul had been persecuting the Jews who followed Jesus because he felt that they were dangerous to the “proper” worship of God. The Gentiles had no fear of Paul because He had not been persecuting them, but the Jews were hesitant. Other disciples also spoke to the Gentiles, but Paul was the one called by God to go to the Gentiles.
So Paul spoke to the Gentiles of the gospel spoken by Jesus and many believed, while the other apostles spoke mainly to the Jews. The ministry to both peoples, Jew and Gentile, continues today, and the church of believers in Jesus Christ is now one church, one flock, with one shepherd. Interestingly, during the Tribulation 144,00 Jewish evangelists will take the gospel to the world, and a great harvest will occur. In the end, literally the end of this age, those who call Jesus Christ “Lord” will gather with Him in heaven while all others will spend eternity apart from God, knowing that they had had the opportunity to accept Jesus as Lord and had not done so. There will be no Jews or Gentiles then, only saved and not saved.
John 10:2,3,14,15 Jesus Knows my Name Alice Public John Public |
“But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out….I am the good shepherd, I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep” (NLT).
Although it is not said specifically, we can infer from the above verses that Jesus knows each of us by name, and names are very important to us. I’m glad that my neighbor knows my name and I am not “just the guy who lives next door.” Jesus knows my name; He calls me Ed.
Names are of great importance throughout the Bible. God named Adam and Eve, and He assigned Adam the task of naming all the animals. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah to signify that they had been changed. Jacob became Israel. In Isaiah 43:1, the Word says, “ But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, ‘Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine’”(NLT). In the New Testament, Jesus changed Simon to Peter and Saul to Paul. In Psalm 147, we are told that God calls the stars by name. One author claims that God has one hundred names, and another claims that He has 50 names, and His names are indicative of who He is and what He does. Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Shalom, Jehovah Rapha, Jehovah Jireh are just a few of the well-known names of God.
God knows me by name, He calls me by name, and at the last trump, He will call me by name, and I shall rise to be with Him in the air. I am overwhelmed that the God of the universe decided that He wanted to know me by name. We are even told in Revelation 2:17 that God thinks enough of us that He gives each of us a secret name that only He and each individual knows—a name to be used only by the God of the universe. Now, that’s special! When I hear that name called in His voice, I will come running with excitement to be by His side.
John 10:11-13 The Good Shepherd
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep“ (NLT).
“Shepherd” is defined as a person who herds, tends, and guards sheep. When we apply the word to a shepherd of people, we mean a person who protects, guides, or watches over a person or group of people. Jesus calls Himself the “good shepherd,” which I take to mean a shepherd who goes above and beyond what is necessary to protect his flock, and we are His flock, the sheep of His pasture. Jesus doesn’t just protect us, His flock, He provides an eternal home for us even as he protects, guides and watches over us while we are on the earth.
Jesus guards His flock when the “wolf” attacks--keeps them safe, and keeps them close to Him. Sheep are known to wander, and so do we. When Jesus sees us beginning to wander, He calls us back, but sometimes we are stubborn and keep going in the wrong direction. It is my belief that Jesus never stops calling us back even though we may be persistent about leaving the flock. He not only calls us back, but He also pursues us to draw us back to Him. In Matthew 18:12 we are told, “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost” (NLT)? Jesus, as the good shepherd, will go look for the one that is lost, but He will not leave the ninety-nine because He, being God, is omnipresent. He maintains protection over the ninety-nine while He searches for the lost one. My guess is that, at some point in time, each of us has wandered, and we have experienced the joy of His calling us back and the thrill of walking back by His side.
There is a point where we can reject Jesus, deny Jesus, and not be drawn to Him. If we reject Him and deny Him until death, then we are eternally lost. Please don’t let that happen to you. When you hear the call of the Lord, reach out to Him. He will be overjoyed and rejoice in the day of your returning.
