September 24, 2023
Matthew 7:6-12
Complimentary Reading: Psalm 19

The title of the sermon is “Kingdom Valuables.”

Outline

1. Pigs trample valuables.
2. A valuable promise.
3. A valuable rule.

We have been going through Jesus’ most famous sermon to the human race. Jesus cautioned His audience against trying to fix others when one is in spiritually worst shape. He instructed His listeners that they set their own standard of judgment by how they respond to others in this life. But Jesus also wanted to make sure that His audience did not misunderstand Him and thereby treat every person "in exactly the same way."² Jesus did not want His listeners to become “wishy-washy” and refuse to make “legitimate distinctions between truth. and error, good and evil.” In fact He will instruct His audience to withhold things from certain people. Jesus will then articulate one of the most beautiful promises in all the Bible to the Fahter’s people. Finally, this section of Scripture we are to being looking at this morning begins to bring the Sermon “to a climactic conclusion.” (Constable) This conclusion is where Jesus gave His audience one of two core essences of the Christian faith.

6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

• What is for sure is that the pig would have been a most unclean animal to the Jews of course. Dogs would have been mange filled stray dogs who were generally not fed by the population. The Jews kept no dogs as pets as we do.
• In Jesus’ day, these terms of “dogs” and “pigs” were euphemisms for the unsaved, lost Gentiles (or unbelievers).
• First thing we need to notice here is that here in verse 6 we have an example of Hebrew poetry. The central structure of Hebrew poetry is parallelism. American poetry rimes. Hebrew poetry uses parallelism.
  • Parallelism states a truth and then restate in a different way. Often using symbolism in part.
    • Proverbs 1:20, Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice.
  • OR state a truth and then state the opposite of it. Often using symbolism in part.
    • Proverbs 15:4, A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
  • Jesus poetry here is stated in the negative, “Do not give what is holy to dogs” is directly related to “Do not throw pearls before pigs.”
  • Holy things = pearls

INTERPRETATION

• Blomberg and Gundry saw this as passage dealing with evangelism specifically. They cited the examples of hostility towards the gospel in the NT as evidence for the view. >>> (See Blomberg, 129)
  • But really, they only gave treatment to hostile reactions not so much Jesus’ command not to give something to a group of people. Unbelievers being hostile is not the main point. They did not consider carefully enough that their interpretation would mean, “Don’t evangelize the lost!”
  • This view is runs into trouble especially given the future instructions in the Great Commission.

The difficulty is that context must drive the interpretation and meaning, but we don’t have much context to go on here.

• Obviously literal pearls is not what Jesus is concerned with.
• With that said, one must draw some conclusion here.
• So what is the context of "6 Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.?
• The largest, common context of the Sermon on the Mount is that of “kingdom.” “Kingdom” is used 1x, “kingdom of God” 1x, and “kingdom of the heavens” is used 6x. Around these this term and phrase are the teaching of the Kingdom. >>>
• So to me, it is the teachings of Jesus that seem to be the pearls.
• Part of good Bible study is correlation. COMMENT
• A search of the phrase “kingdom of heaven” will support the idea of pearls being a metaphor for “the kingdom of heavens”. In Matthew 13:45-46 we find, “… the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

We need to remember 5:19 of the sermon: “Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” >>>

• So, in essence, the kingdom of heaven in this context is HEARING AND APPLYING the truths of Jesus. Living out truth is living in the kingdom and finding great wealth of God.
• King David knew this well. He wrote in Psalm 19:9b, “the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold.”
• Paul knew it; he wrote in Colossians 2:2-3, That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
• The Proverbs give witness to the same truth in 3:13-15, “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.”
  • Remember, being wise and living in the kingdom comes from believing and living out God’s truth when he says it instead of learning it from the death consequences of unbelief. REPEAT
  • God has two schools: one of wisdom and the other of discipline.
• So, in essence holy pearls are discipleship truths. We are not to give discipleship truths of the Sermon on the Mount to unbelievers. Give them = trying to teach them to them.
• If you do, you can expect a vicious attack.
  • “In the New Testament, there are several examples of this principle in action. In Matthew 15:14, Jesus, speaking of certain Pharisees, tells his disciples, “Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” According to Acts 18:5f., Paul abandons his ministry to the Jews in Corinth because they oppose him and become abusive. Instead he turns to the Gentiles to minister to them.” (Carson, The Sermon …, 105)
• The word wants to trample the truth of Jesus the same way pigs would trample pearls.

APPLICATION

• Lost people do need the gospel —absolutely. That is their greatest need.
• In fact, we or course are instructed to go into all the world and evangelize, baptize and make disciple converts as the witnesses of God. (Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8, et al.)
• However, until one knows God through the re-birth of the Spirit’s indwelling, one cannot accept the additional truths —the pearls of God, the wisdom of God, the valuable kingdom principles. The unbeliever considers what is priceless to the believer, valueless.
• If people are not receptive to the gospel, there is nothing left to teach them regarding kingdom of God. Those addition truths will not be received if the gospel is rejected.
• It is always puzzles to me how Christians expect unbelievers to value the teaching of the Bible. Sinners going to sin. Lost people will not receive Christian discipleship and morality. This is what Jesus is teaching here. If you try to feed an unbeliever kingdom pearls he will trample you.
• Don’t we see this today? COMMENT

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

INTERPRETATION SIDEBAR

• Something that makes Jesus’ teaching more difficult and interesting is the way He said truths that are deep and seem to stand alone in the middle of surrounding contexts. How they tie into what He was saying has caused some debate when this happens. The relationship between verses 5, 6, and 7 are included in the debate.
• So the first question regarding verse 7 is does verse 6 go with it? >>>
• Does verse 6 go with 7 or 5 or both or neither?
• What sparked my research in this was a question. We know that asking for our daily needs is in the context of verse 7’s asking. For we see the physical food in the context below. But the question was are we instructed to “ask” in verse 7 for the holy pearls, the discipleship truths of verse 6?
• Remember, the NT original manuscripts have no punctuation (periods, commas, etc.) or paragraph breaks. Punctuation would not come along until much later. There are actually not even spaces between each word. Mathew’s account of the gospel actually looks like one continuous word in the original.
• Therefore, paragraph breaks are an interpretation decisions by translators as are all periods and commas, etc.
• AND paragraph breaks influence interpretation; be careful.
• The CSB is the only translation that I saw that tied verse 6 to verse 5 and before. Hart’s translation is the only one I saw that tied verse 6 to verse 5 and 7. All the others I saw had verse 6 as a stand alone instruction. (ESV, NASB, et al.)
• Again, I think the context of the entire sermon is telling:
• “Hunger and thirst for righteousness” = desiring and responding to God’s truth.
• “Give us this day our daily bread.”
• So the answer for me is both. We need to actively ask for more quantities and the corresponding understanding of kingdom principles and wisdom, our spiritual sustenance, and we are also to continue to ask for our physical sustenance.
• “All that the disciple needs to serve Jesus Christ successfully is available for the asking.” (Constable) All the resources of God are available for us to be like Jesus. We need to ask for them. And be consistent in our asking.

Again verse 7,
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

• These three imperatives in verse 7 are also found in the present, active forms. Jesus audience was instructed to ask, seek, knock.
• Imperative = commands
• Present tense active = should be happening in the audience and should continue to happen.
• The there is an important promise: if the imperatives are obeyed then it will be given, it will be found. and it will be opened.
• IT !!!
• What is it? The Kingdom! More and more of the kingdom.
• We can ask for better understanding of the things and truths of God. This passage teaches God will give them to us.
• This may not be surprising, but are you praying for Jesus’ truth, His wisdom, His righteousness?
• Remember why we are supposed to pray for these things, the is a giving grantee. Again verse 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
• Here Jesus reinforces the simple grantee of God. Everyone hoping for receives.
• Any idea of unanswered “persistence” is dealt with here. (France, 144 f) There is no such thing.
• “The force of each present imperative verb in Greek is … [repetitive].[701, Tasker, p. 80] We could translate them: Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking (cf. Luke 11:9-10). However, no matter the level of intensity with which we seek God’s help, He will respond to every one of His disciples who calls to Him …” (Constable)
• Lloyd-Jones said it well, “If you should ask me to state in one phrase what I regard as the greatest defect in most Christian lives I would say that it is our failure to know God as our Father as we should know Him.” >>> [702, Lloyd-Jones, Studies in …, 2:202]
• God is our caring Father, perfect in His raising of us.

ILLUSTRATION

• 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
• 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
• “Even though parents are evil (i.e., self-centered sinners), they do not typically give their children disappointing or dangerous counterfeits in response to requests for what is wholesome and nutritious.” (Constable)

JESUS’ CONCLUSION:

Verse 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

• Here Jesus uses an argument from the lesser to the greater.
• We are evil. This is the same Greek word used for Satan in Matthew 13:19 BTW. (See Blueletter; cf. France, 144)
• This speaks to evil character being like across the board. >>
• But even this being so, most often, even evil people take care of their children.

APPLICATION

• “God has ordained that we ask for the good gifts we need, because this is the way He trains us, not because He is unaware or unconcerned about our needs (cf. 6:8).” (Constable)
• “how much more will your Father … give good things to you who ask”, infinitely more.
• Carson said, “Like a human father, the heavenly Father uses these means to teach his children courtesy, persistence, and diligence. If the child prevails with a thoughtful father, it is because the father has molded the child to his way.”[700, Carson, “Matthew,” p. 186]
• “Ask for any one of these things that is good for you, that is for the salvation of your soul, your ultimate perfection, anything that brings you nearer to God and enlarges your life and is thoroughly good for you, and He will give it you.”[703, Lloyd-Jones, Studies in …, 2:204]

Verse 12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

• Jesus gives the climatic application of the pearls of the kingdom here.
• God is good to us and gives us what we need even though we are evil.
• We are to go and do likewise.
• We are suppose to mirror God’s proactive, loving care to others.
• This is not stated in a negative form. That is, withholding behavior. Instead v. 12 is stated in the positive. It doesn’t withhold action but instead is proactive in giving action. >>
• This here is not Confucius’ Silver Rule: “What you do not want others to do unto you, do not do unto them.’” [>>>][710, Charles S. Braden, The World’s Religions, p. 141]
• In that case “doing nothing” would suffice. (Blomberg, 131, cf. Mounce, Matthew, 63; et al.). Instead we find the golden rule to be active, positive responses.
• Many observe the negative for of this rule. I will do no harm to others by pulling away from people. I will hold my tongue and keep my distance in the future. >>>
• But the golden rule is not like that. We must trade places with people, and ask, What would I want done to be if I were him or her? >>>
• “He will try to forgive as he would wish to be forgiven, to help as he would wish to be helped, to praise as he would wish to be praised, to understand as he would wish to be understood. He will never seek to avoid doing things; he will always look for things to do.”[708, Barclay, 1:281]
• Therefore, “we have not completely obeyed until we earnestly seek others’ well-being.” (Blomberg, 131)
• “The attitude which says, ‘I must do no harm to people,’ is quite different from the attitude which says, ‘I must do my best to help people.’”[709, Barclay, 1:280]

Numbers 6
24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Notes

^{Notes from above may not be in numerical order.}

¹ One page 145, France cites Jeremias, PJ, p. 145.
² Carson, The Sermon …, 104.

Works Cited

Scripture quotations [unless otherwise noted] are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Click here to access the works cited web-page for this document, save those marked as “Notes” or “Other Works Cited”–if any. Most of these cited works correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of general background information and references, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with. ¶ Furthermore, there may be numbered notes that are URL linked; these are usually retained numbered notes from Thomas Constable’s, “Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes.” These links are preserved “as is” at the time of this work’s formation and I usually include other citation information from Constable as well (e.g. authors’ names).

Other Works Cited

Note: All of the resources below were cited in at least one of the sermons in the Book of Matthew but not necessarily this one.

Augsburger, David. Dissident Discipleship. Brazos Press, 2006.

Blomberg, Craig L. Matthew. New American Commentary, vol. 22, ed. David S. Dockery, et al., Broadman Press, 1992. May be sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/matthew0000blom

________. Preaching the Parables: From Responsible Interpretation to Powerful Proclamation. Baker Academic, 2004. Sourced from archive.org.
(https://archive.org/details/preachingparable0000blom/page/82/mode/1up)

Bruce, Alexander Balmain. The Training of the Twelve. Ed., A.C. Armstrong and Son, reprint 1984, Kregel Publications, 1971 edition.

Carson, D. A. The Sermon on the Mount : an Evangelical of Matthew 5-7 Exposition. 1978, Baker Book House, fifth printing, 1989. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/sermononmounteva0000cars/page/54/mode/1up

_______. When Jesus confronts the world : an exposition of Matthew 8-10. Originally published by Inter-Varsity Press in 1988, Paternoster, 1995. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/whenjesusconfron0000cars/page/n3/mode/1up

Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. Our Daily Bread Publishing, web ver.

Davies, W. D. and Dale C. Allison, Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. T. & T. Clark, 1988. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/criticalexegetic0001davi/page/n7/mode/1up

Evans, Craig A. The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew-Luke. Victor, 2003. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/bibleknowledgeba00crai/mode/1up

France, R. T. The Gospel According to Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1985.

France, R. T. The Gospel of Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2007. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000fran/page/n6/mode/1up

Harrington, Daniel J . The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina Series, vol. 1, A Michael Glazier Book, Liturgical Press (publ.), 1991. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000harr/mode/1up

Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke. Baker Book House, 1984.

Phillips, John. Exploring the Gospels: John. Loizeaux Brothers, 1988.

Plumptre, E. H. “Matthew.” Commentary for English Readers, Charles John Ellicott, Compiler/Editor, Lord Bishop of Gloucester Cassell and Company, Limited, 1905. Sourced from BiblePortal.com. Click here for a list of the authors of the CER.

Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew. Zondervan, 1995.

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