"Ask, and It Shall be Given You." Part 2
By Mrs. E. G. White
"Every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth."
Christ is here presenting a law of the divine government. Asking for the
Holy Spirit is connected with receiving this gift. The Lord reads the
hearts of all men. He selects from His subjects those He can use, choosing
material which can be worked. He selects the most unpromising subjects,
and through them magnifies His own wisdom and power by causing them to
sit among princes. In all ages He has used human beings to carry out His
purposes. He chooses subjects who will not be perverted, who in all righteousness
and faith will honour His name. He passes by the men who have perverted
the capabilities He has given them, and selects men of His own wisdom
who make Him their trust, their dependence, their efficiency. He hews
and polishes the rough stones He has quarried out of the world. He works
through men who realize that they must submit to the axe, the chisel,
and the hammer, lying passive under the divine hand. Through those who
voluntarily submit themselves to Him in all matters, who seek Him in faith
and hope, He works out His plans.
Those who ask because they wish to impart to others will not be disappointed.
God will reward those who come to Him in earnest faith. He assures us
that the thought of His majesty and sovereignty should not keep us in
fear. He will do much more graciously than we suppose if we will come
to the footstool of His mercy. He urges His sovereignty as a reason for
His great and merciful bountifulness in supplying the demands upon Him.
He pledges Himself to hear our prayers, declaring that He will hear them.
He condescends to appeal from the instinct of parental tenderness to the
infinite benevolence of Him whose we are by creation and by redemption.
He says, "If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto
your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy
Spirit to them that ask Him." The needy and soul hungry never plead
with God in vain.
Humanity and divinity must be linked together in the experience of every
overcomer. In our weakness we are to accept Christ's power. He gives us
the assurance, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world."
In view of this tell me who should wear countenances more bright and
cheerful, more full of sunshine, than those who live by faith in the Son
of God. In Him the needy and hungry find all their wants supplied. But
let us not forget that those whom God has blessed with the good things
of this life are to be His helping hand, to supply the necessities of
His needy ones. They are to be labourers together with Him. They are His
stewards in trust, and are to use their goods for the advancement of His
work, that His name may be glorified. The Lord desires to employ the church
as a channel through which to communicate His bounties. If His people
would keep the channel open, receiving the spiritual and temporal gifts
of His grace, and imparting them to the needy, there would be no sick
ones neglected, no orphans crying for food. The hearts of the widow and
the fatherless would sing for joy.
God has given man the richest of His gifts. This He has done that man
may dispense His bounties. Medical missionary work and the gospel ministry
are the channels through which God seeks to pour a constant supply of
His goodness. They are to be as the river of life for the irrigation of
His church. There is not the semblance of an excuse for the lifeless condition
of a people who know the plain "Thus saith the Lord." God calls
their attention to the words, "Ye are the light of the world. . .
. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven." He reminds us that we
have only to ask, and we shall receive; to seek, and we shall find; to
knock, and it shall be opened unto us.
Throw open the windows of the soul heavenward and close them earthward.
The Lord has made His church the repository of divine influence. The heavenly
universe is waiting for the members to become channels through which the
current of life shall flow to the world, that many be converted, and in
their turn become channels through which the grace of Christ shall flow
to the desert portions of the Lord's vineyard.
In the day of final accounts, what will the church give as a reason for
her strange indifference to bring souls to a knowledge of the truth? My
brethren and sisters, keep the temple of God pure and holy, that He may
use it to the glory of His name. God will enlarge His faculties and multiply
His gifts to you as you make use of them to gather souls under the bloodstained
banner of the Redeemer. "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh
to you." By yielding to the temptations of the enemy, by losing sight
of God, you have lost the sense of what a child of God ought to be. Your
powers of perception are clouded. But the way is open for your spiritual
life to be reinforced with new power. "Ask, and ye shall receive."
Concluded.
Originally published in The Bible Echo, August 12, 1901.
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