Articles
The Rest Of The Story - Matthew 7:7
The Rest Of The Story - Matthew 7:7
Paul Harvey had a segment of his show that he introduced as ‘the rest of the story’. To know only half of the story is to not know the story! Hence people in court are under oath to tell the truth, the WHOLE truth, and nothing but the truth!
In Bible study, there is a pervasive habit of NOT telling the whole story. People find a particular verse and make it THEIR whole story, but it isn’t then God’s story.
In the sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).
Many such promises at first glance seem to be unconditional, but ELSEWHERE God has put conditions upon such. To ignore what God has said elsewhere is not to tell the WHOLE truth, and thus perverts the truth!
A simple example is to be found in the temptation of Jesus. Satan quotes the promise of God found in Psalm 91:11-12: ”Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and *said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command His angels concerning You'; and 'On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone'" (Matthew 4:5-6).
Jesus corrected this, not by showing that the promise itself was not true, but by showing that God had said more than just this: “Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." (Matthew 4:7). In this quote by Jesus, we thus see “the rest of the story”.
What is the rest of the story about asking, seeking, knocking, and finding?
God stated to Israel concerning a similar promise: 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:12-13).
Then again, we must ask in faith: “But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6-8).
And again, James could say of some that “you ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3).
My point today is not so much a commentary on Matt. 7:7, but simply to illustrate that knowing the truth of God’s word often requires a bit of work and learning. It involves learning ‘the rest of the story’ so that we do not misunderstand and misapply the promises of God. How much of the story do you know?
Hugh DeLong
