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Doing the Right Thing
Matthew 7:7-12
August 24, 2003
 

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Introduction:
  1. Do you ever ask this question: "Have I done the right thing?"
  2. Our children ask us for something and we make a decision about what we believe to be in the best interest of our children.
  3. As couples, we wonder about the best expenditures of money, disciplining our children or a myriad of other decisions that make up our lives, and we wonder if we have strengthened or weakened our relationship.
  4. As men and women in the work force, we need to make daily decisions that are indicators of who we are as people of integrity and children of God.
  5. In all of this, the question asked is, "Am I doing the right thing?"

Transition:

  1. Do we ever question whether God has done the right thing in the face of the circumstances of our lives, and in the lives of those around us?
  2. We face the issue of trust. We ask whether we believe God is trustworthy.
  3. We will look at two issues in this text.
    1. Does God do the right thing for us and how do we know it?
    2. How do we know when we are doing the right thing?

Text:

  1. "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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."
    1. Imagine asking for something knowing you are guaranteed to receive it.
      1. We want, and ask, for many things but we do not always get what we want.
      2. Jesus said, "I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."
        1. The problem with our understanding
        2. Learning to live in harmony
    2. Imagine seeking for something knowing you are guaranteed to find it.
      1. Lost and found
      2. Discovering meaning and purpose to life
    3. Imagine knocking knowing that the door is guaranteed to be opened.
      1. We often find our lives blocked
      2. We have a message that is intriguing in Scripture
        1. Jesus invites us to knock
        2. Jesus stands at the door and knocks (Rev. 3:20)
    4. Each of these three are part of the process that is guaranteed to bring us into the kingdom of God.
      1. We are brought back to the beatitudes
        1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
        2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
        3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
        4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
      2. When these are in place we find the process of salvation begun (asking, seeking, and knocking) and a new way of living about to unfold.
  2. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him?
    1. We know that God will do the right thing because the highest of human ideals leads us to believe that we wish to do the right thing.
      1. We find it inconceivable that some parents abuse children
        1. Yet, one-third of children are victims of sexual abuse
        2. Statistically higher, we find that many more children are victims of physical and emotional abuse, and neglect
      2. In James 4:17 we read, "Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and does not do it, sins."
        1. Inherently, we know the right thing to do, but we do not always follow up
    2. God created humanity in His own image.
      1. Unfortunately, the image of God in humanity marred by sin
      2. Though God promised His fullness in us when we give our lives to Him through Jesus, we find ourselves tormented by our desire to please God or follow our own inclinations
    3. That we are evil is not seen in comparison with others; rather, it is in comparison to the holy God of all creation
    4. How shall we then live?
  3. "In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
    1. We call this the "Golden Rule"
      1. Practicing the Golden Rule does not save us
      2. Practicing the Golden Rule fulfills the greatest commandment, "Love God…and love your neighbor as yourself"
      3. The Golden Rule also helps us to hear Paul’s encouragement, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose"
    2. We reap what we sow – or, what goes around comes around

Conclusion:

  1. We do the right thing by asking, seeking, and knocking
  2. We do the right thing by choosing obedience
  3. We do the right thing by radiating the glory of God in our lives
  4. We do the right thing by living as far as it is possible in harmony with all people Romans 12:16
    1. When we experience peace with God, we receive grace and mercy with no condemnation (Romans 8:1)
    2. When we display the love of God for His people, there is no room for condemnation

Let us give what we have received for this is doing the right thing.

 

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