Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1723
Delivered on Lord’s-Day Morning, May 27, 1883
“Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Matthew 7:12.
I believe, no doubt, that, taken very strictly, the three exhortations of this verse—which, indeed, are but one— were, first of all, intended for God’s believing people. It was to His disciples that the Lord said, “Cast not your pearls before swine” and, perhaps, certain of them who were poor in spirit might turn around and say, “Lord, we have few pearls; we are too poor to have the treasures of Your Grace so plentifully. You have bidden us not to give that which is holy unto dogs; but holiness is rather a thing we seek after than possess.” “Well,” says the Lord, “you have only to ask and have; you have not because you ask not; you have only to seek and you will be sure to find—for holy things, like rare pearls, are to be discovered if you look for them. You have only to knock and spiritual secrets shall open to you, even the innermost Truths of God.”
In each exhortation our Lord bids us pray. Beloved, let us abound in supplication! Depend upon it, failure in prayer will undermine the foundation of our peace and sap the strength of our confidence. But if we abound in pleading with God, we shall grow strong in the Lord and we shall be happy in His love and we shall become a blessing to those around us! Need I commend the Mercy Seat to you who wait before it? Surely prayer must have become such a joy to you, such a necessity of your being, such an element of your life, that I hardly need press it upon you as a duty, or invite you to it as a privilege. Yet I continue to do so because the Master does it by a triple exhortation. A threefold cord is not easily broken—let not my text be neglected by you. Let me urge you to repeated, varied, ever intensifying prayer—ask! Seek! Knock!
Cease not to ask till you receive; cease nor to seek till you find; cease not to knock till the door is opened unto you! In these three exhortations there would appear to be a gradation—it is the same thought put into another shape and made more forcible. Ask—that is, in the quiet of your spirit, speak with God concerning your needs and humbly beg Him to grant your desires—this is a good and acceptable form of prayer. If, however, asking should not appear to succeed, the Lord would awaken you to a more concentrated and active longing. Therefore let your desires call in the aid of knowledge, thought, consideration, meditation, practical action and learn to seek for the blessings you desire as men seek for hidden treasures. These good things are laid up in store and they are accessible to fervent minds. See how you can reach them. Add to asking the study of the promises of God, a diligent hearing of His Word, a devout meditation upon the way of salvation and all such means of Grace as may bring you the blessing. Advance from asking to seeking.
And if, after all, it should still seem that you have not obtained your desire, then knock and so come to closer and more agonizing work—use not only your voice, but your whole soul—exercise yourself unto godliness to obtain the gift! Use every effort to win that which you seek after, for remember that doing is praying; living to God is a high form of seeking and the bent of the entire mind is knocking. God often gives to His people, when they keep His Commandments, that which He denies to them if they walk carelessly. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.” Holiness is essential to power in prayer—the life must knock while the lips ask and the heart seeks.
I will change my line of exposition and say—ask as a beggar petitions for alms. They say that begging is a poor trade, but when you ply it well with God, no other trade is so profitable! Men get more by asking than by working without prayer. Though I do not recommend not working, yet I most highly commend praying! Nothing under Heaven pays like prevailing prayer! He that has power in prayer has all things at his call. Ask as a poor mendicant who is hungry and pleads for bread. Then seek as a merchant who hunts for goodly pearls, looking up and down, anxious to give all that he has that he may win a matchless treasure. Seek as a servant carefully looking after his master’s interests and laboring to
promote them. Seek with all diligence, adding to the earnestness of the beggar, the careful watchfulness of the jeweler who is seeking for a gem.
Conclude all by knocking at Mercy’s door as a lost traveler, caught out on a cold night in a blinding sleet, knocks for shelter that he may not perish in the storm. When you have reached the gate of salvation, ask to be admitted by the great love of God. Then look well to see the way of entering, seeking to enter in—and if the door still seems shut against you—knock right heavily and continue knocking till you are safely lodged within the home of love! Once again, ask for what you need, seek for what you have lost, knock for that from which you are excluded. Perhaps this last arrangement best indicates the shades of meaning and brings out the distinctions. Ask for everything you need, whatever it may be—if it is a right and good thing, it is promised to the sincere asker!