Matthew 7:11
So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
If you, then, being evil
This phrase acknowledges the inherent sinfulness of humanity. The Greek word for "evil" here is "ponēros," which implies a moral corruption or wickedness. In the context of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is addressing His disciples and the crowd, emphasizing the fallen nature of mankind due to original sin. Despite this inherent sinfulness, humans are still capable of performing good acts, which underscores the grace of God working even in a fallen world.

know how to give good gifts to your children
The phrase "know how" suggests an innate understanding or natural inclination. The Greek word "oida" implies a knowledge that is intuitive. Despite humanity's sinful nature, there is an inherent understanding of providing for one's children. The "good gifts" refer to the basic needs and desires that parents strive to fulfill for their children, reflecting a universal truth about parental love and care. This is a common cultural practice across time and geography, highlighting the consistency of human nature.

how much more
This phrase is a rhetorical device used by Jesus to draw a comparison between human actions and divine actions. It suggests a greater degree of goodness and generosity in God's actions compared to human actions. The phrase "how much more" is a common Jewish teaching method known as "qal wahomer," which argues from the lesser to the greater. If flawed humans can give good gifts, then it is certain that God, who is perfect, can give even greater gifts.

will your Father in heaven
Here, Jesus refers to God as "your Father," emphasizing a personal and intimate relationship between God and believers. The term "Father" is "Pater" in Greek, which denotes not only authority but also care and provision. The phrase "in heaven" distinguishes God from earthly fathers, highlighting His divine nature and supreme authority. This relationship is foundational to Christian theology, where God is seen as a loving and caring parent who desires the best for His children.

give good things
The "good things" refer to the blessings and provisions that God bestows upon His children. The Greek word "agathos" is used here, which means inherently good, beneficial, or useful. This encompasses both material and spiritual blessings. In the broader biblical context, these "good things" can include wisdom, peace, joy, and the Holy Spirit, as seen in parallel passages like Luke 11:13.

to those who ask Him!
This phrase emphasizes the importance of prayer and the act of asking God for our needs. The Greek word "aiteō" means to ask or request, indicating a humble petition. This highlights the relational aspect of prayer, where believers are encouraged to approach God with their needs and desires. It underscores the promise that God hears and responds to the prayers of His children, reinforcing the theme of God's generosity and willingness to provide for those who seek Him earnestly.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus Christ
The speaker of this verse, delivering the Sermon on the Mount, teaching about the nature of God and prayer.

2. Disciples and Followers
The immediate audience of Jesus' teaching, representing all believers who seek to understand God's nature.

3. Heavenly Father
God, depicted as a loving and generous parent who provides for His children.

4. Children
Symbolic of believers who are recipients of God's good gifts.

5. Sermon on the Mount
The setting of this teaching, a collection of Jesus' teachings found in Matthew chapters 5-7.
Teaching Points
Understanding God's Nature
God is inherently good and desires to give good gifts to His children. This understanding should shape our approach to prayer and trust in Him.

Human Limitations vs. Divine Generosity
Even flawed human beings know how to give good gifts. How much more, then, can we trust in the perfect generosity of our Heavenly Father?

Encouragement in Prayer
Believers are encouraged to ask God for their needs, trusting in His willingness and ability to provide.

The Importance of Asking
The act of asking is crucial in our relationship with God. It demonstrates our dependence on Him and our faith in His goodness.

Perspective on Material and Spiritual Gifts
While God provides for our material needs, the ultimate good gift is spiritual—His presence, guidance, and the Holy Spirit.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding God as a loving Father influence your approach to prayer and your expectations of His responses?

2. In what ways can you see God's good gifts in your life, both materially and spiritually?

3. How does the comparison between human and divine generosity in this verse challenge your view of God's provision?

4. Reflect on a time when you asked God for something. How did His response align with the promise of giving good things?

5. How can you apply the principle of asking God for good things in your daily walk with Him, and how does this connect with other scriptures about prayer and provision?
Connections to Other Scriptures
James 1:17
This verse emphasizes that every good and perfect gift comes from above, reinforcing the idea of God as the giver of good gifts.

Luke 11:13
A parallel passage where Jesus speaks about the Holy Spirit as the ultimate good gift from the Father.

Romans 8:32
Highlights God's willingness to give us all things, having already given His Son for us.

Psalm 84:11
Describes God as a sun and shield who bestows favor and honor, withholding no good thing from those who walk uprightly.

Philippians 4:19
Assures believers that God will supply all their needs according to His riches in glory.
Human and Divine FatherhoodsR. Tuck Matthew 7:11
Sermon on the Mount: 6. Against Judging OthersMarcus Dods Matthew 7:1-12
Encouragements for PrayerW.F. Adeney Matthew 7:7-11
PrayerJ.A. Macdonald Matthew 7:7-12
Dependence Upon GodR. Tuck, B. A.Matthew 7:9-11
God a Royal Father Concerned for the Welfare of His ChildrenC. H. Spurgeon.Matthew 7:9-11
God the Best of FathersW. Jay.Matthew 7:9-11
Good Gifts to Our ChildrenW. Gladden, D. D.Matthew 7:9-11
The Heavenly and the Earthly ParentAnon., R. Watson.Matthew 7:9-11
The Improvement Upon the Earthly PatternP.C. Barker Matthew 7:11, 12
People
Jesus
Places
Galilee
Topics
Able, Asking, Evil, Gifts, Heaven, Heavens, Imperfect, Rather, Requests, Though, Wicked
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Matthew 7:11

     1040   God, fatherhood
     1050   God, goodness of
     8224   dependence
     8261   generosity, God's
     8349   spiritual growth, means of

Matthew 7:7-11

     5325   gifts
     6704   peace, divine NT
     8112   certainty
     8409   decision-making, and providence
     8617   prayer, effective

Matthew 7:7-12

     1660   Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 7:9-11

     2357   Christ, parables
     5666   children, needs
     7115   children of God

Library
November 22. "Cast the Beam Out of Thine Own Eye" (Matt. vii. 5).
"Cast the beam out of thine own eye" (Matt. vii. 5). Greater than the fault you condemn and criticise is the sin of criticism and condemnation. There is no place we need such grace as in dealing with an erring one. A lady once called on us on her way to give an erring sister a piece of her mind. We advised her to wait until she could love her a little more. Only He who loved sinners well enough to die for them can deal with the erring. We never see all the heart. He does, and He can convict without
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

January 12. "Ask and it Shall be Given You" (Matt. vii. 7).
"Ask and it shall be given you" (Matt. vii. 7). We must receive, as well as ask. We must take the place of believing, and recognize ourselves as in it. A friend was saying, "I want to get into the will of God," and this was the answer: "Will you step into the will of God? And now, are you in the will of God?" The question aroused a thought that had not come before. The gentleman saw that he had been straining after, but not receiving the blessing he sought. Jesus has said, "Ask and ye shall receive."
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Judging, Asking, and Giving
'Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye! 5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Two Paths
'Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.'--MATT. vii. 13-14. A frank statement of the hardships and difficulties involved in a course of conduct does not seem a very likely way to induce men to adopt it, but it often proves so. There is something in human nature which responds to the bracing
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Two Houses
'Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.... 25. And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand.'--Matt. vii. 24, 25. Our Lord closes the so-called Sermon on the Mount, which is really the King's proclamation of the law of His Kingdom, with three pairs of contrasts, all meant to sway us to obedience. The first
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Christ of the Sermon on the Mount
'And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine: 29. For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.'--MATT. vii. 28-29. It appears, then, from these words, that the first impression made on the masses by the Sermon on the Mount was not so much an appreciation of its high morality, as a feeling of the personal authority with which Christ spoke. Had the scribes, then, no authority? They ruled the whole life of the nation with
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. vii. 7, "Ask, and it Shall be Given You;" Etc. An Exhortation to Alms-Deeds.
1. In the lesson of the Holy Gospel the Lord hath exhorted us to prayer. "Ask," saith He, "and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? [2135] Or if he ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? [2136] If ye then,"
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

Known by their Fruits.
(Eighth Sunday after Trinity.) S. MATT. vii. 16. "Ye shall know them by their fruits." The religion of Jesus Christ is one of deeds, not words; a life of action, not of dreaming. Our Lord warns us to beware of any form of religion, in ourselves or others, which does not bring forth good fruit. God does not look for the leaves of profession, or the blossoms of promise, He looks for fruit unto holiness. We may profess to believe in Jesus Christ, we may say the Creed without a mistake, we may read
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2

Casting Blame.
8th Sunday after Trinity. S. Matt. vii. 15. "Inwardly they are ravening wolves." INTRODUCTION.--A Schoolmaster finds one day that several of his scholars are playing truant. The morning passes and they do not arrive. At last, in the afternoon, the truants turn up. The master has a strong suspicion where they have been: however, he asks, "Why were you not at school this morning?" "Please, sir, mother kept me at home to mind the baby." "Indeed--let me look at your mouth." He opens the mouth,
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

False Prophets
(Eighth Sunday after Trinity.) Matthew vii. 16. Ye shall know them by their fruits. People are apt to overlook, I think, the real meaning of these words. They do so, because they part them from the words which go just before them, about false prophets. They consider that 'fruit' means only a man's conduct,--that a man is known by his conduct. That professions are worth nothing, and practice worth everything. That the good man, after all, is the man who does right; and the bad man, the man who
Charles Kingsley—Town and Country Sermons

A Man Expects to Reap the Same Kind as He Sows.
"Herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit . . . after his kind."--Gen. i: 12. "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"--Matt. vii: 16. "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." --Romans viii: 13. A Man Expects to Reap the Same Kind as He Sows. If I should tell you that I sowed ten acres of wheat last year and that watermelons came up, or that I sowed cucumbers and gathered
Dwight L. Moody—Sowing and Reaping

The Mote and the Beam
That friend of ours has got something in his eye! Though it is only something tiny--what Jesus called a mote--how painful it is and how helpless he is until it is removed! It is surely our part as a friend to do all we can to remove it, and how grateful he is to us when we have succeeded in doing so. We should be equally grateful to him, if he did the same service for us. In the light of that, it seems clear that the real point of the well-known passage in Matthew 7:3-5 about the beam and the mote
Roy Hession and Revel Hession—The Calvary Road

Doctrine of Non-Resistance to Evil by Force must Inevitably be Accepted by Men of the Present Day.
Christianity is Not a System of Rules, but a New Conception of Life, and therefore it was Not Obligatory and was Not Accepted in its True Significance by All, but only by a Few--Christianity is, Moreover, Prophetic of the Destruction of the Pagan Life, and therefore of Necessity of the Acceptance of the Christian Doctrines--Non-resistance of Evil by Force is One Aspect of the Christian Doctrine, which must Inevitably in Our Times be Accepted by Men--Two Methods of Deciding Every Quarrel--First Method
Leo Tolstoy—The Kingdom of God is within you

Fifth Lesson. Ask, and it Shall be Given You;
Ask, and it shall be given you; Or, The Certainty of the Answer to Prayer. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened,'--Matt. vii. 7, 8. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.'--Jas. iv. 3. OUR Lord returns here in the Sermon on the Mount a second time to speak of prayer. The first time He had spoken of the Father who is
Andrew Murray—With Christ in the School of Prayer

Sixth Lesson. How Much More?'
How much more?' Or, The Infinite Fatherliness of God. Or what man is there of you, who, if his son ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone; or if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?'--Matt. vii. 9-11 IN these words our Lord proceeds further to confirm what He had said of the certainty of an answer to prayer. To remove
Andrew Murray—With Christ in the School of Prayer

The Beggar. Mt 7:7-8

John Newton—Olney Hymns

Here Again Arises a Very Difficult Question. For in what Way Shall we Fools...
28. Here again arises a very difficult question. For in what way shall we fools be able to find a wise man, whereas this name, although hardly any one dare openly, yet most men lay claim to indirectly: so disagreeing one with another in the very matters, in the knowledge of which wisdom consists, as that it must needs be that either none of them, or but some certain one be wise? But when the fool enquires, who is that wise man? I do not at all see, in what way he can be distinguished and perceived.
St. Augustine—On the Profit of Believing.

Asking, Seeking, Finding. --Matt. vii. 7, 8
Asking, Seeking, Finding.--Matt. vii. 7, 8. Ask, and ye shall receive; On this my hope I build: I ask forgiveness, and believe My prayer shall be fulfill'd. Seek, and expect to find: Wounded to death in soul, I seek the Saviour of mankind; His touch can make me whole. Knock, and with patience wait, Faith shall free entrance win: I stand and knock at mercy's gate; Lord Jesus! let me in. How should I ask in vain? Seek, and not find Thee, Lord? Knock, and yet no admittance gain? Is it not in Thy
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Assurance and Encouragement. --Matt. vii. 7, 8
Assurance and Encouragement.--Matt. vii. 7, 8. While these commands endure, These promises are sure; And 'tis an easy task To knock, to seek, to ask: Sinner hast thou the willing mind? Saint, art thou thus inclined? Dost thou expect, desire, believe? Then knock and enter, seek and find, Ask and receive.
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

The Strait Gate;
OR, GREAT DIFFICULTY OF GOING TO HEAVEN: PLAINLY PROVING, BY THE SCRIPTURES, THAT NOT ONLY THE RUDE AND PROFANE, BUT MANY GREAT PROFESSORS, WILL COME SHORT OF THAT KINGDOM. "Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."--Matthew 7:13, 14 ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. If any uninspired writer has been
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Parting Counsels
'And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: 23. Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. 24. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. 25. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Author's Preface.
I did not write this little work with the thought of its being given to the public. It was prepared for the help of a few Christians who were desirous of loving God with the whole heart. But so many have requested copies of it, because of the benefit they have derived from its perusal, that I have been asked to publish it. I have left it in its natural simplicity. I do not condemn the opinions of any: on the contrary, I esteem those which are held by others, and submit all that I have written to
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

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