«　WEEK 4　DAY 3　»

　　Matt. 7:11 If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in the heavens give good things to those who ask Him!

　　Luke 11:13 If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

　　In Matthew 7, the proper way to contact people is according to the principle of the kingdom. In verse 11, after using the examples of a son asking for a loaf and a fish in verses 9 and 10, the Lord said, “If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in the heavens give good things to those who ask Him!” Because Matthew is a book on the kingdom, no doubt the “good things” in verse 11 are the things of the kingdom. However, Luke 11:13, the sister verse of Matthew 7:11, says, “If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” In Luke 11:13 the “good things” are changed to “the Holy Spirit.” If we put these two verses together, we see that the best way for the kingdom people to contact others is according to the kingdom and according to the Holy Spirit....As we deal with others, we must ask, seek, and knock. Eventually, we shall receive the guidance to deal with people according to the kingdom and according to the Spirit. Thus, the controlling principle for our contact with others is the kingdom and the Spirit. If our contact with others is based upon this principle, we shall not make mistakes...[and not make contacts that are] not profitable to anyone. (Life-study of Matthew, p. 291)

　　We all must learn to take care of others and to pray, “Lord, show me the way.” First you need to ask. If the way does not open up, then you must seek. If the way still does not open up, then you must knock. To knock means to come close to the One whom you are seeking. When you ask, there may still be a distance, but when you knock, there is no distance. Rather, you are directly in front of the One you are seeking. Thus, you need to spend time to seek the Lord. In contacting others, we need the asking, the seeking, and the knocking. Then the door will be opened, a straight way will be given to contact people, our contact will be profitable, and we shall be saved from making mistakes. We shall also know to beware of the dogs and the hogs. This is the significance of the insertion of verses 7 through 11 between verses 6 and 12 in Matthew 7.

　　We need to add a further word about asking, seeking, and knocking. To ask is to pray in a common way, to seek is to supplicate in a specific way, and to knock is to reach the door in the closest way. The matter of asking and receiving in verse 8 is good for the kingdom people's prayer concerning their keeping of the new law of the kingdom. They ask for it and they will receive it. The matter of seeking and finding is good for 6:33. The kingdom people seek the Father's kingdom and His righteousness and will find them. The matter of knocking and having the door opened is good for 7:14. The narrow gate will open to the kingdom people by their knocking. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 292-293)

　　Concerning the spiritual and divine things for the church, we must keep in mind four crucial points. First, we must go through the cross. Our native flavor should be crossed out by Christ. Both the Americans and the Chinese should be crossed out. In the church there is room for no natural person, but Christ is all and in all (Col. 3:11). On the cross both the Jews and the Gentiles were crossed out. Second, everything should be by the Spirit. Third, this is to dispense Christ to others. Fourth, everything is for the building up of the church. In other words, whatever we do should be through the cross and by the Spirit to dispense Christ to others for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “The Divine and Mystical Realm,” p. 157)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Luke, msg. 27; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “The Divine and Mystical Realm,” ch. 6