+II. A certain success to the seekers of wisdom.+ In Holy Scripture earnest seeking and finding are complements of each other. The one does not exist without the other. Seeking ensures finding. Finding implies seeking. "If any man lack _wisdom,_ let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not" (Jas. i. 5). God's promise is absolute. It can only fail on one of three suppositions. 1. That when God made the promise He had no intention of keeping it, or--2. That unforeseen circumstances have since arisen which render Him unable to fulfil His word, or--3. That the conditions have not been fulfilled on the part of the seeker. We know that God's holiness and omnipotence render the first two impossible, and therefore, whenever there is no finding, we are certain that there has been no real, earnest seeking. For the promise is limited by the condition, "they that seek me early, or earnestly." If a traveller has a long journey to perform and many difficulties to overcome in the way, he shows his determination to arrive safely at his destination by setting out at early dawn. Those who are anxious to make a name, or a fortune, show their anxiety by rising early and sitting up late. There are degrees of earnestness in seekers after Divine wisdom as in all other seekers. But those whose seeking is the most earnest will receive the most abundant reward. The Syro-Phœnician woman who besought Christ to heal her daughter was a type of earnest seekers. She redoubled her efforts as the apparent difficulties increased. She _asked,_ she _sought,_ she _knocked._ And she received not only what she sought, but a commendation from the Lord for her earnest seeking (Matt. xv. 28).