Let's take our Bibles this morning
and turn with me to the book of Isaiah, chapter 55. We began
last weekend, last Sunday, and we looked at the first five verses
of the two services. This morning, let's pick up in
chapter 55, in verse 6 and 7, what I'd like to deal with today.
Isaiah 55 and 56, Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him. and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon us. Let's pray together. Our Father, we ask you this day,
for Christ's sake, bless your Word. Lord, make true that it
go forth in power. Know that it shall accomplish
the purpose for which it was sent. We ask you for Christ's
sake. Amen. I want you to ask yourself something
this morning. Has the Lord given me a heart
that thirsts after Him? Am I here today thirsty? Thirsty, spiritually thirsty. I need to drink of the well of
fountain that has been opened by Almighty God. Do you desire to come to the
water of life? That's a good question. Do I
have a heart? Has the Lord made me willing
in the day of His power, in the midst of all of the struggles
within, without, do I want to come to Him? Do
I long to hear the message that alone honors God, that message
that alone exalts I want here. This is what I long
after. This is what I desire. Tell me
one more time. Tell me about God. Do you realize by the revelation
of God's Spirit that you and yourself are poor, spiritually poor? Has He given you faith and the eat of him who is the
gift of God. Do you this morning consider
everything that you formerly trusted in? As far as earning
a righteousness before God? Is that dross and dawn? Have you a longing to incline
your ear and to hear from your soul that has been made alive
to Christ? This morning, do you desire,
I'm listening, I'm listening, I'm listening for the glory of
God, I'm listening for the honor of Christ, I'm listening to hear
again, afresh, How that in myself, I'm nothing.
And that salvation is all of grace through faith. And that's not of myself, it's
a gift of God. Do you rejoice in the sure mercies
of David? Heavenly David. The Lord Jesus
Christ. These sure mercies that say this,
I'm going to give you a new heart. The old heart with which every
one of us is born, it doesn't change. It never changes. The old nature with which you
were born, you still have that same nature and it has not improved. That which is flesh is flesh.
That which is spirit is spirit. That old heart of rebellion is
still there. What it is, the Lord has removed
it from reigning and ruling. He says, I will remove the heart
of stone. Oh, the presence of sin is there,
but it doesn't rule anymore. It's there. It thrives against
the spirit, the spirit against the flesh. God promises, I'm going to give
you a new heart. I'm going to put my spirit in
you. I'm going to write my word on
your heart. And you're going to know I'm your God, you're
my people. Lord, this morning we come realizing
that we're helpless creatures. We're here by the grace of God,
kept by the grace of God, desiring after you by your mercy and compassion. If you find yourself somewhat
in that state, And all the while, while we hear these characteristics,
we think to ourselves, Lord, help me. Lord, I desire that. I struggle. If you find yourself,
then here's the verse we're at. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. I looked up that word, seek.
You know what it means? Frequent. Frequent. The Lord. Follow after. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found, and call out from your heart, Now, this blessed command that
we find this morning, seek ye the Lord. First of all, it's
a duty that's laid at the feet of all men, and also it's a gracious
proclamation of God's mercy. That duty lays at the feet of
all men. Now listen to me, every person
sitting in this congregation this morning, every person that
sits and hears the glorious gospel of God's grace, hears the word
of the Lord, seek ye the Lord while he may be found. If you're breathing this morning,
you're still in this world, you're still alive, This command is
given to a people that obviously, by nature, don't seek Him. He wouldn't say, seek ye the
Lord, if everyone sought Him. Man, as we're born in Adam, is
ignorant of Almighty God, and therefore must be directed to
Him. desire to seek after God. We've read this before. We need
to read it again. Psalm 14, 1-3 says this, the
fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Actually, this is
what he's saying. No, God, no. They're corrupt. They've done
abominable works. There's none that seeketh or
doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand
and seek God. They're all going to sigh. They're
all together become filthy. They stink. That's what the word
means. There's none that doeth good. None. Not one. Man by nature. This is what man
by nature says. Here is the declaration of the
God of all grace. God Almighty. Not the God of
this world. Not the God that's trying to
do something. I defy that God, that little
G-God. When David was asked, where is
your God? He said, our God's in the heavens. And he hath done
whatsoever he pleased." That's God. That's the God that spoke
this world into existence. That's the God that sustains
all things by the word of His power. And here is man. Here's
man. No! No. Well, I tell you what, you just realize
how quickly That attitude is manifested. Listen to a little
child. Talk to him. Tell him. Boy, they raise up that head
of rebellion. No. You want to bet? No. No, God. Romans 3, 11 reiterates this.
Paul says there's none that understand it. There's none that seeks after
God. But the question is this. Does
man's ignorance and rebellion relieve him from the responsibility
or the penalty of his disobedience? Scripture says, Mark 16, 15,
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Man absolutely will suffer eternal
judgment if he does not seek after, bow, come to How shall we escape, the Apostle
says in Hebrews 2.3, if we neglect so great salvation which at the
first began to be preached, or spoken, I'm sorry, by the Lord,
and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? Here is
God's commandment. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. Make sure work of him. Make a
sure work of this. Let it be done at once. Trust
Christ alone. Leave that which is empty. Forsake self-righteousness. Seek
the Lord. Whosoever will. This is what
the Spirit of Christ says. Whosoever will. Let it come.
Do we back away from whosoever will? No. We never back away
from that which the Scriptures clearly sets forth. The problem
is, man by nature won't. The Scripture says, God looked,
there was none that saw Him. There was none that followed
Him. There was none that did good. Man, absolutely. is commanded to seek the Lord.
Man's problem is that he's rebelling against God. But look at the glorious grace
of Almighty God. I will have mercy on whom I'll
have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. Here's the command. Seek the
Lord. But in that command, there's
a gracious proclamation of the Lord's mercy. Seek ye the Lord. Let me tell you the literal of
that. It is, because He may, because
it is allowed, because He may be found, call ye upon Him, for
He is near. Here we can behold nothing. the
grace of Almighty God. This morning, if you're sitting
here this morning, in your heart, you say, I want Him. I desire
Him. I long for Him. It's by the grace
of Almighty God. Man, by nature, will not all the helplessness, hopelessness
of man without Christ, man's dead, absolutely dead. He's a rebel. But the Holy Spirit
is held by the power of Almighty God. God has mercy. He has compassion on whomsoever
He will. Did man quicken himself? Does
a man quicken himself? The scripture says in Ephesians
2, and you have been quickened, who were dead in trespasses and
sins. In regeneration, a marvelous Ezekiel 36, 26, a new heart also
will I give you. A new spirit will I put within
you. Take away the stony heart out
of your flesh. I will give you a heart of flesh.
I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes
and you should keep my judgments and do them. that we are commanded to seek
the Lord, and knowing that He has promised that we shall find
Him. What a promise! Jeremiah 29,
13, And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search
for me with all of your heart. I got to thinking about that.
Blessed truth. And here's the question that
ought to be asked. If I know, if I know that God
looked and saw that no man saw him by nature. If I know that he said he shall
seek me and find me and just search for me with all of your
heart. And I know that it's not going
to be a heart with which I was born and I am. My question is this. How? Where? Where? Where is Almighty God
sought? How is he sought? Is the answer. Is the only answer. There is no other answer. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man comes to the Father. No man comes to God. If I know that Almighty God is
sought only in Christ, if I know by divine revelation, by regeneration,
until Almighty God gives a man a new heart, he does not know,
he does not care, he does not seek, he says no, no. I will not have that man rule
over me. I'm the boss, you think. I'm in control, you think. You
shall seek me and find me, or you shall search for me with
all of your heart. Here's the glorious Number one, God has to give me
a heart to do so. My friend, if you rejoice in
the glorious message of Christ, if you have a heart that worships
Him, bows to Him, seeks Him, tell me again about Him one more
time. Where is He found? I'll tell you where He's found. where he's honored. He's found where he raises up
the glorious gospel, His grace, His mercy. The Lord Jesus Christ,
knowing that He's the only way, you possess a desire to seek
Him, to long after Him. I'm telling you, He put that
there. You didn't seek Him on your own. Jehovah Himself is
found while He sought with a true heart, a new heart. That which
is born from above, He's the witness. He's the leader. He's
the commander. That's what the Lord says. Behold,
verse 4, I've given Him for a witness to the people. Do you desire a person? Do you
desire to fall after, to seek Him? He is searched and found. He's blessed and promised. When
I read Psalm 14, it says, God looked
and there was no man that sought after God. And then I hear Him
say, you shall seek Me. You shall find me. I know Almighty
God's done something, because without Him doing something, we seek Him this morning as we
hear again of the glorious purpose of Almighty God, to save a people
that He's everlastingly loved. Tell me one more time, Holy Spirit,
bless this to my heart. Tell me one more time how God
Almighty loved this arrangement and would not let the order of
man perish. Lord, you've got to let. Lord,
I have a heart. I love the glorious gospel of
your sovereign grace. Lord, you set forth, you told
me. You said, I lay down my life
for the sheep. Oh, the message, the glorious
gospel of particular redemption. Particular redemption sets forth. He's not a failure. He didn't
die in vain. He did not shed his blood. That
shall not be a Dutchman. Lord, You said that all the fathers
given to You shall come to You, and shall come to You. Lord, I have a heart this morning
that desires, I want to come again. He that cometh to me. You say, well, I've been coming. I've been coming. I came last
week. I'll come back. Right now. Right now. He that cometh to me now. He
that seeks me shall find me If you lost something, I know
every time somebody loses something, the question's always going to
be, well, where's the last place you remembered finding it? Well,
if I remembered that, I'd know where it was. I just, I don't
remember. I don't remember. I have no idea
where it is. Well, we can waste a lot of time
looking, but if he's given you a heart and tells you where God
Almighty is found. I'll tell you this, He's found
when He's revealed in the preaching of His gospel, a gospel that
Paul said, I'm not ashamed of this. Listen to me, He is not
found in any other place but where He sets Himself forth in
these scriptures. What say the scriptures? Seeking
By hearing, by following after, frequent, that's the word, frequent
the hearing of the gospel. Frequent yourself in the study
of these scriptures. Frequent in the seeking after
Him in prayer. Ask Him. Knock, knock at the
door of mercy. If He's given you a heart to
do so, you're a blessed man, a blessed woman. A heart made
new. is the heart that seeks Him as
the author and finisher of our faith. He is the might of God. He is sovereign. He is the one
who saves His people. And He is absolutely sought and
found only in that way. Now, verse 7 sets forth exactly
what we've been saying right here. When he said in verse 6,
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while
he is near. The next verse is going to tell
us exactly how God is sought. Here it is. Let the wicked forsake
his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, let him return
unto the Lord. And he will have mercy upon him.
And to our God, he will abundantly pardon. He is soft. He is seeking the
Lord according to these scriptures, forsaking man's way. Let the wicked forsake his way. Obviously, the wicked have a
way. that is supposed reconciliation
unto Almighty God, but the end of that way is dead. False God-despising, man-honoring,
false religion. is to provide himself a covering. Think back to what Adam and Eve
did in the garden. What did they do? Scripture says
they got them some fig leaves. They were going to hide from
God. I'm going to hide my shame. I'm going to hide my nakedness.
God's not going to know. A man that seeks after God. Bless God, he won't do it on
his own. Lord, you turn me and I'll be
turned. Lord, you make me new and I'll
be made new. When is a man going to say that?
When God's made him new. When is a man going to seek the
Lord? When God gives him a heart to seek. Thy people shall be
willing in the day of thy power. Gives him a new heart. They seek
the Lord. And I'm telling you, when Almighty
God gives a man a new heart, he seeks after God. Remember
the two thieves? There were two thieves. Go back
and read it. At one point, both thieves were
railing on the Lord. And we're just reading down one
of the accounts, and it says this. While they were railing,
all of a sudden, one of them says, This man's done nothing. We're
deserving of what we get. There's a man made alive. In
myself, I deserve what I'm getting. And but for my substitute, if
I say, Lord, will you remember me when you enter into your What
was that man doing? What was that thief doing? I'm
going to seek the Lord while he may be found. I'm going to
seek him while he's near. Lord, have mercy on this sinner. Let the wicked forsake his way,
the unrighteous his thoughts. Man's wicked way honors man. Man's wicked way makes God to
be at man's disposal. Let the unrighteous man forsake
his thoughts. Psalm 94, 11. The Lord knoweth
the thoughts of man, that they are vanity, empty, man's thoughts. They long after that which is
useless. He holds on to that which cannot save. They just
wait for it. Let him return unto the Lord. You know, if the scripture sets
forth that a man is commanded to return to the Lord, he's got
to admit, I deviate. I deviate. For a man to return,
he must have gone away, didn't he? When did man go away? You know when he did. And he
departed. And every one of us that's been
born in heaven came forth with that heart of departure. How am I going to return? How
am I going to return unto the Lord? Let him return unto the
Lord and he will have mercy upon him. Our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. Second Corinthians 5.18, all
things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ,
to wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed
unto us the word of reconciliation. Here's what I know. I know that
the Lord has one message of reconciliation. The Lord has one message that
sets forth peace before God Almighty. Seek the Lord while he may be
found. How does a man seek after God? Here it is. You preach the gospel. Ezekiel, can these bones live?
That's what I asked last week. Can these bones live? Lord, you
know. Preach. Preach to them. And say
unto them, O ye dry bones, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the
Lord. How are they going to hear? You
preach, and I will cause them to hear. I will cause the seniors
to come. I will cause them to have faith. You preach to them. This is what
I say this morning. Seek ye the Lord while he is
near. If Almighty God blesses this
message, it's by the mercy and compassion of Almighty God, I
can't make a man hear. But I do know this, I can preach. I can preach the message that
you set forth. I'm a proclaimer. All I'm doing
is saying again what God's already said. And if He's pleased to
bless this to the calling out of His sheep, it will be to the
everlasting praise of His mercy and grace. Oh, that God would bless this
message today to the salvation of His people. That He would
call His own eyes. That He would honor Himself in
regeneration to those that He's everlastingly loved. Seek ye
the Lord. May the Lord bless these words,
our hearts for Christ's sake.