To Those Who Ask
Posted: September 15th, 2010, 1:09 am
simpletruth #138ap Revisited 15SEP10 salicart@msn.com
HOSEA 10:12—Part Forty Two: To Those Who Ask
by rev. dave c
Hosea 10:12, Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you (NKJV).
Although we are told to seek God throughout the Bible, we read in Genesis 3:9 that it is God Who first sought after humanity: “Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" (NAS). Blessedly, we discover in the Gospel of John that God is still seeking after His creatures: 4:23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." 25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." 26 Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he" (NIV).
Jesus, the Son of God, tells us that God the Father is seeking worshipers who worship Him in spirit and in truth. That is to say, if we believe in God and love Him with our whole person, AND if we actually demonstrate that faith and love in our daily lives, then God will call to us, He will seek us out. We find this same principle at work in the writings of Paul. Please consider Romans 10:8-10: But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, in your mouth and in your heart"--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation (NAS). It is essential that we have faith in our hearts, but we must also openly, publicly, testify according to that faith. Then in First Timothy 4:16 the Apostle to the Gentiles tells the young pastor-teacher, Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers (NIV). Again, we are being told that as we are careful in what we hold in our hearts to be true, and what we demonstrate to the world in word and deed, then God will seek after us. According to these verses from Romans and the verse from First Timothy this can result in salvation today and forever—not just for ourselves, but for those who surround us and who likewise follow our example.
There is more than a suggestion in Scripture that the Lord God responds to the intent of the heart as it is actualized in the world for anyone and everyone who has come to understand the need for help and forgiveness, and who reaches upward toward the Creator of the Universe. Second Timothy 2:20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses [ref. ‘The Prodigal Son’ Lu 15:17] and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will (NIV).
Contrary to the teachings of Calvinism, anyone may knock upon the door to salvation with the full assurance that Jesus will open it. This is clearly stated in both the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, where Jesus tells us: 11:9 "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 "For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. 11 "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 "Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" (NAS).
Please consider the Apostle Paul’s outline for salvation as presented in Acts 26:19&20: "So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds (NIV). While we are saved by faith alone and not by works (Ro 9:11&12; Ep 2:8&9), nowhere in Scripture is there an indication that someone can just ‘sit back’, so to speak, and let God save him/her, then wait out the rest of this life to be taken up to glory for the next. We must repent (“ask, and it will be given to you”), turn to God (“seek, and you will find”), and prove our repentance by our deeds (“knock, and it will be opened to you”). If we, being flesh and bone, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? Heavenly Father, I thank You for the gift of Your Son so that the door to salvation is opened to all who will respond to the Gospel message. Jesus, I thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to fill us with the miraculous power of the living and written Word. Holy Spirit, I thank You for joining us together in the fellowship of the Church. Lord, help us to ask in the spiritual, seek in the rational, and to knock in our material existence. In Your name, Jesus, amen.
HOSEA 10:12—Part Forty Two: To Those Who Ask
by rev. dave c
Hosea 10:12, Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you (NKJV).
Although we are told to seek God throughout the Bible, we read in Genesis 3:9 that it is God Who first sought after humanity: “Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" (NAS). Blessedly, we discover in the Gospel of John that God is still seeking after His creatures: 4:23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." 25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." 26 Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he" (NIV).
Jesus, the Son of God, tells us that God the Father is seeking worshipers who worship Him in spirit and in truth. That is to say, if we believe in God and love Him with our whole person, AND if we actually demonstrate that faith and love in our daily lives, then God will call to us, He will seek us out. We find this same principle at work in the writings of Paul. Please consider Romans 10:8-10: But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, in your mouth and in your heart"--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation (NAS). It is essential that we have faith in our hearts, but we must also openly, publicly, testify according to that faith. Then in First Timothy 4:16 the Apostle to the Gentiles tells the young pastor-teacher, Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers (NIV). Again, we are being told that as we are careful in what we hold in our hearts to be true, and what we demonstrate to the world in word and deed, then God will seek after us. According to these verses from Romans and the verse from First Timothy this can result in salvation today and forever—not just for ourselves, but for those who surround us and who likewise follow our example.
There is more than a suggestion in Scripture that the Lord God responds to the intent of the heart as it is actualized in the world for anyone and everyone who has come to understand the need for help and forgiveness, and who reaches upward toward the Creator of the Universe. Second Timothy 2:20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses [ref. ‘The Prodigal Son’ Lu 15:17] and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will (NIV).
Contrary to the teachings of Calvinism, anyone may knock upon the door to salvation with the full assurance that Jesus will open it. This is clearly stated in both the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, where Jesus tells us: 11:9 "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 "For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. 11 "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 "Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" (NAS).
Please consider the Apostle Paul’s outline for salvation as presented in Acts 26:19&20: "So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds (NIV). While we are saved by faith alone and not by works (Ro 9:11&12; Ep 2:8&9), nowhere in Scripture is there an indication that someone can just ‘sit back’, so to speak, and let God save him/her, then wait out the rest of this life to be taken up to glory for the next. We must repent (“ask, and it will be given to you”), turn to God (“seek, and you will find”), and prove our repentance by our deeds (“knock, and it will be opened to you”). If we, being flesh and bone, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? Heavenly Father, I thank You for the gift of Your Son so that the door to salvation is opened to all who will respond to the Gospel message. Jesus, I thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to fill us with the miraculous power of the living and written Word. Holy Spirit, I thank You for joining us together in the fellowship of the Church. Lord, help us to ask in the spiritual, seek in the rational, and to knock in our material existence. In Your name, Jesus, amen.