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September 30, 2021 8:00 am
God is not reluctant bless her of his children. God is not reluctant to forgive and to cleanse the help he is not an uncaring tyrant that is not who he is. God is the father of grace. Thanks for joining us on the truth pulpit with Don green founding pastor of truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio high on bill right and were concluding our series, yours for the asking. Last time Don reviewed the human illustration.
Jesus gave us in his sermon on the Mount, a human father loves his children and naturally wants to provide today will see just how much greater a father. We have in heaven will come to better appreciate the magnitude of his grace.
That grace is indeed yours for the asking, but you do have to ask.
Let's join Pastor Don green right now in the truthful disposition of God is when you persistently ask your father to help you grow in righteousness. What do you think he will do.
He will help you grow in righteousness there's no other. There is no other possibility he will respond favorably when children make good requests to their fathers. The father's answer and say yes, that's what they do and that's the way that we should think about our God as we seek to develop our sanctification. Now couple of objections here. First of all, I can well understand someone saying perhaps some of you saying saying that's too simple spiritual growth. This is more than just asking for it. Well remember Jesus's audience. Here Jesus is speaking to those who are hungering and thirsting for righteousness already. He's not making a blanket promise to people who are spiritually indifferent or anything like that. He's speaking to people who have already cultivated in themselves in the spirit of God's work in them a hunger for righteousness there eager to obey, but they see their inability to do so there eager to obey, but they see their weakness. They've been a Christian long enough to understand. I don't always get this right. In fact, sometimes I feel pretty miserably to them. He says God will help you when you ask God will help you when you ask, he is describing an earnest, sincere request coming over time from someone who is earnestly seeking to grow this way. This presupposes that somebody is somebody is is reading God's word somebody is seeking to seeking actually to grow. Not just lazily asking God to do it all. They do nothing. Another objection, someone else might say impatiently. I tried that and it doesn't work. I asked God to help me get over my particular sin. I've asked God to help me grow spiritually and it doesn't work. I still struggle I still fail. I got frustrated and I just quit asking to that objection, I would say this, if you stopped praying for God to help you grow in righteousness. You never once asked in the spirit. The Jesus requires here in this passage, see Jesus says you ask and keep on asking, seeking keep on seeking not keep on knocking the fact that the answer was delayed was not an excuse for you to stop asking.
That was not a reason. The goal of righteousness, the desirability of righteousness. The call to righteousness didn't diminish simply because of your failure.
You continue to ask you continue to seek even when it seems like the answer is delayed, you persevere through that and you keep asking until heaven opens the door for your growth. If someone stopped praying because he was discouraged.
He has no complaint against these words of Jesus. Listen just just think with me here. Just think with me here, Jesus says, asking keep on asking and you will receive say I asked I twitch I say, but she stopped and you brought yourself outside of the realm of the promise Jesus told you to keep asking, but you stopped the fact that you were discouraged. Beloved is not an excuse for that. Think with me on that simple example homely little example. Can you imagine someone taking that approach with their personal hygiene. You know I want to be clean and you know I tried taking showers, but I found that I just got dirty again and it just got so frustrating to me that I just gave up and I quit no more showers for me really. That might explain why you don't have many friends you would never do that you would look at that and save save friend that's preposterous physical hygiene doesn't work that way. It is a sustained effort is something that you do consistently over time and you don't expect one shower to take care of you for life.
We all understand that.
It's so absurd, no one would even think it will beloved just take that over into the spiritual realm and see the obvious application. Your spiritual growth requires your consistent attention through humble prayer to your heavenly father.
This isn't something that you pray one time you see look special. You young people that developing relationships and all that. Hygiene matters to you want to be at your best for the person that you're seeking or whatever great love that all in favor of it. It's a consistent day by day effort well if you want this kind of righteousness, of which the Lord speaks that desire doesn't go away. You keep asking you keep seeking it you want it day by day and so you seek it and you ask for it day by day see the person who gives up the, the, who gets frustrated and quits. The problem is not that God has failed us in some way.
Sometimes the Lord let you go through struggles.
Sometimes the Lord lets you fail again and again, just so that you would come to realize more and more how empty you are spiritually and how much you are a in need of grace to humble your pride to afflict you, to the point of humility so that you would compensate God help me I can't do it on my own and only when you have come to a settled rejection of your own natural ability. You start to pray in this kind of earnest spirit. This is God I really need your help and you start to pray that way and then you find over time the Lord changing the Lord helping you the whole idea is that this is a sustained matter of spiritual life, not a one time event that allows you to arrive in the neuron spiritual easy Street it's not like that beloved and sometimes sometimes you just lay broken in the trench bloodied from the battle is that God help me again today and and it seems like it seems like the measure of graces is small, perhaps that's not the case. That's not the case. The mere fact that you're asking is showing the work of an operation of grace in your heart should never lose sight should never lose sight of who your heavenly father is he is he is a greater father than a human parent and he knows exactly when to give what you need so you trust him for that and you keep asking along the way. The problem is not that our God has failed us. That could never be the answer. And in our discouragement we need to come back to the fact that possibly possibly probably, we just don't know them like we should Martin Lloyd Jones said this, the greatest defect in most Christian lives is our failure to know God as our father we say we know that and believe it but do we know it in our daily life.
Is it something of which we are always conscious. If only we got hold of this we could smile in the face of every possibility and eventuality.
The lies ahead of us." Beloved, if you're struggling in your Christian life. I say this to help you and to encourage you to be a blessing to you not to rebuke you if you're struggling with a lot of chronic discouragement in your Christian life come back to the realization that God is a heavenly father who desires to bless you that he is with you that he is that he is in that he saved you in order to bring you into his family to put you on the receiving end of his blessing and generosity and come back and ask him afresh again. God, I've been run over by a truck here. Can't you help me and to realize that that's not a prayer of desperation that he may or may not answer.
This is a confident request we make, knowing that our God is for us. And if God is for us who can be against us.
He's a greater father. If the human father would give to his human son, how much more a greater God spiritual child. This is fundamental to the way that we think about our God. Secondly, the divine reality. God is a greater father. Secondly, God is a gracious father God is a gracious father and as you as you go to your heavenly father.
In light of this passage, remember all this is so we remember how Jesus has described him throughout the sermon on the Mount. Look at chapter 6, verse four, chapter 6, verse four, you must know these things that we are so easy to forget when things don't go our way. Chapter 6 verse four. What's godlike verse for your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Verse six. When you pray going to your inner room closure door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. He sees he will reward you. He sees he will reward you. Look at verse eight. Don't be like them, don't be like the Gentiles who meaningless will he repeat the same prayers over and over. You don't you don't need to be like them. Your father knows what you need before you ask your father knows your circumstances. Your father cares your father is intimately aware with every detail of your life, your father's intimately aware that these particular things are difficult. He's he's intimately aware of the struggles that you have of those besetting sins and seemed to that that sometimes seem to dominate you more than you dominate them.
He knows he knows he anticipated all of that before Christ even went to the cross. He knows and he saved you anyway. Now having saved using just going to turn his back on you. This is unthinkable. Verse 26 of chapter 6 look at the birds of the air that they do not sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. These little to send creatures have needs and your father gladly feeds them gladly make sure that the birds of the air have what they need, don't you think you're worth more than a sparrow Archie worth more than a flitting Cardinal that will die in a short amount of time with God feeds the birds like that, won't he do much more for you see we just need to repent. Frankly of our unworthy thoughts of God, that somehow he's reluctant to answer prayer that somehow he's reluctant to bless us that somehow he's reluctant to receive us when we go to him in prayer.
Verse 32 Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, but your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Beloved your father knows your father cares your father is willing to answer and willing to give.
He sees you and he knows your need and he has promised to provide for you and so what you say in response to that.
How do we respond how we think about that how we think about God.
In light of this beloved. There is something really basic fundamental that should sink deep into each of our hearts. In light of these things, the God of the Bible, the God of your Lord Jesus Christ, the God and father of your Lord Jesus Christ.
This God to whom we pray this God who sent Christ to lay his life down on the cross for our sins. This God who graciously sent his spirit to draw us to Christ to save us to redeem us and to bring us into his family. This God who is Christ expressed it in John 14. He's gone to prepare a place for so that he can receive us and will be with him forever. This God deserves your trust this God deserves your confidence.
This God deserves your trust he receives you and love. He is sovereign over all and he uses his strength to help you. And so this frames everything about the way that we pray to him.
Look at verse 11 again with me now. He says 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 what is good to those who ask him. Beloved, I say it reverently, but I said emphatically for the love of God for the love of God lay hold of this in your heart lay hold of this in your mind. God is not a reluctant, bless her of his children. God is not reluctant to us to forgive and to cleanse and help us in our struggles with sanctification.
He is not an unwilling stranger unwilling to give you five dollars for gas is not an uncaring tyrant just looking to smack you and to whip you once more for another failure in your life that is not who he is, you can't look at the cross of Calvary and think that now the one that he whipped was his own son right. The sun bore the stroke on our behalf. God is like this is willing to bless now is one last thing that you need to notice here that we see who God is.
We trust him would bless his name for the goodness of his character. The greatness of who he is, we see that, but we realize and what Jesus says that there is an element of responsibility for you here and this is where it becomes now weep. Having looked up. Now we look in notice last phrase in verse 11. How much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to to whom to those who ask him. He gives to those who ask him beloved. This is not an indiscriminate promise that God makes to the God makes to everyone. This isn't something that you just automatically receive, regardless of your mental involvement your mental engagement. Know this is designed to cultivate in you a spirit of dependence and a spirit of humility, where you actually go and ask you actually go and ask in the sustained way this if you want this blessing you have to ask for it. If you want this kind of spiritual growth. If you want to lay hold of this kind of this kind of blessing from God. You got ask Fort and it would do us all good to ask ourselves for you and me to ask ourselves this question by even ask for this task and God bless my word. God help me this God help so-and-so that you get all that. What about getting to the core of what Jesus is teaching throughout the whole sermon on the Mount about about about pursuing a life of righteousness about having a character that that that is reflective of the character of Christ himself. Having a character that that that that desires the things of heaven more than the things of the earth and cultivating that of cultivating a a spirit of trust God.
I believe that you will provide for me over a spirit of anxiety got I'm afraid you won't. The inner man, beloved who you are in your heart and who that is shaping up to be. When do you ask God to shape you there changing their God make me into a godly person make me into a godly young woman make me into a godly young man God make me godly inside. Whatever else may come when do you pray that way. Beloved, see that's what Jesus is saying that's what Jesus is promising and he says that that blessing is reserved for those who ask for it and ask consistently. Maybe, maybe we would do well to rethink what we pray for maybe we would do well to rethink our thoughts about God what a good God, what a great God and to and to be willing to accept the possibility and the responsibility even to the point of repentance of saying you know you know I accept the responsibility I accept the fact that the reason I haven't progressed more in my spiritual life is because I really haven't asked God for help. You know I'll go through my Bible reading plan and all do my private, quiet time and all that but when it really gets down to God change me and make me what you want me to be I don't I don't ask for that. I asked for other things. As for lesser things. Maybe we should change the way that we think about these things. In addition, all of this.
This willingness of God to bless us who he is as a father malevolently remind you of one final central thing.
In addition to all of this as we think about our meager spiritual lives. The help we need to grow. Beloved, go back to Calvary go back to the cross or Lord, shed his blood to make atonement for your sins left the glories of heaven to walk on this earth in the midst of 33 years of sinful opposition to soul.
He was beaten he was crucified. He was spat upon, bore the wrath of the father he bore the wrath of God on his shoulders on your behalf.
And as they mocked him, he cried out father forgive them. They don't know what they're doing, he saw you and your sin in the 20th 20th and 21st century and overlooked it. Spirit of God brought Christ to you through the gospel and he received you when you Cried out in repentance and faith. God save me and wash you any cleanse you any gabion assurance it now you belong to love and think with me think with me. This determines everything about where you go spiritually from here. Did Christ make that gracious self-sacrifice in order to abandon you in the middle of the Christian life that he did he graciously reach out to you to start only to step back in and walk away in shame because of your repeated failure having laying down his life for you. Will he turn you away as you seek help in the sometimes weary life of being a disciple of his question answers itself doesn't know no no no no no no he's not like that he is not like that he is a gracious Savior, God is the father of grace.
Psalm 86. I believe it is turned right to you turn to to Psalm 86.
This is what we walk out with. He knows our weakness.
He promises growth for the asking. Look at verse one he says. Incline your ear or Lord and answer me from afflicted and needy preserve my soul from a godly man owe you my God Savior servant who trusts in you, be gracious to me oh Lord, for to you I cry all day long.
Make glad the soul of your servant, for to you oh Lord I lift up my soul a look at the ground upon which he prays this prayer David reciting in Old Testament form verse five Psalm 86 verse five for you, Lord, are good and ready to forgive and abundant in loving kindness to all who call upon you give Vero Lord to my prayer and give heed to the voice of my supplications in the day of my trouble.
I shall call upon you for you will answer me. There is no one like you among the gods of the Lord, nor are there any works like yours all nations, whom you have made shall come and worship before you will Lord and they shall glorify your name for you are great and do wondrous deeds.
You alone are God you see it, beloved DC the ground upon which David says help me in my affliction and my weakness. Lord your God, you're ready to forgive your abundant in loving kindness to all who call on you come in staggering under the load and there, done that. Beloved this God will hear your cry from he will answer the call and so pastor Don Greene has completed both his message, the father of grace and are series yours for the asking more edifying teaching comes your way. Next time you're on the truth Paul to be with us. But before we leave you today. Here's Don with the final word about this series we know, my friend. I guess the take away for this series is forced to just realize the priority of spiritual things as we go to God in prayer and that we would make those the ongoing feature of our prayer life seeking salvation for people who do not know Christ seeking grace to overcome sin, seeking for our loved ones in Christ that they would be conformed to his greater image and so beloved, I would just encourage you to filter those things to your mind and let them shape your priorities in prayer and God will work in response to your pleadings before his throne.
Thanks Don and Fred remember to visit the truth Paul.com to learn more about this ministry there. You can also find out how to access the live stream of truth, community church services. That's all in the true pulpit.com I feel right and we'll see you back here next time on the truthful