Years ago, when I was quite a little girl, a favourite aunt tried to teach us all this lesson. When the grandchildren went to stay at that dear country house, they were told that on a Saturday they could ask their aunt for a "Saturday penny." She wanted to impress upon our minds that God loved us to ask for what He had promised! So as surely as we asked, however many there were of us, she gave what she had promised. And, though that is seventy years ago, you see I have not forgotten it! Well! Our Lord says "Ask." That shows that He knows we have some want in our hearts that we hardly are conscious of. What is the need that hides down below everything else? It is forgiveness—to be assured that our sins are washed away. People, however, try a number of remedies first. They think "they will turn over a new leaf." They think they will strive more earnestly to improve. They make endless resolutions. But all these remedies fall short of the need. They do not go down to the root of the disease. Suddenly we find the remembrance of some sin flashes into our thoughts and makes us miserable; or there is a defilement in our lives which we cannot get rid of by any of the means within our reach! What then? The words of Jesus Christ on the Mount, given so long ago, but of living power to-day, are— "Ask! Ask of God." He seems to say, "Ask, and you shall receive!" Go to God for forgiveness. Ask Him to wash you clean and white in "the Blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanseth from all sin," and then you will be at peace, and life will be a different thing to you. Then our Lord goes on to say, "Seek, and ye shall find." A woman who loses a piece of silver sweeps diligently till she finds it! A merchant seeking goodly pearls sells all he possesses to obtain Pearl of Great Price! And then comes the third thought and the third promise. "Knock!" Do not just go to the door of God's storehouse of blessings and give a careless knock, and then turn away without even expecting an answer! You see a boy delivering circulars down your road. He knocks and then runs on, and does not trouble himself further. But there comes a needy man to one door. He has been told to come at any hour on any day, and he knocks. There is no immediate answer. Shall he turn away? His need is so great that he knocks again. And still the answer is delayed. "He told me to come," murmured the man. "He told me to knock at his door!" So he goes on knocking; and by and by the master, who is alone in the house, comes to the door, and with words of welcome, he bids the needy man enter. And inside the master's house there is a storehouse of blessings! More than the needy man can ask or think. And the master showers warmth, and love, and food, and riches upon him, so that he goes on his way with every want supplied, and with promises of an endless supply. How to enter in. The answer comes back to us, like sweet chimes from afar, in our Lord's own words—