Good morning. If you'll turn
back in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 55. As our brother read this chapter,
and as I have studied this chapter the last several days, I believe
God has enabled me to stand in awe. Truly, this is awesome. As our brother just told us,
this is awesome. This is too glorious for me. I just pray
the Lord will enable us to stand in awe again. Our text will be
verse 6, Isaiah 55 verse 6. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. The title of our message is Seek
Ye the Lord. And I pray that God will enable
us to do just that. What is it to seek the Lord? First and foremost, I believe
it is a desire to know Him. To seek the Lord is to desire
the Lord. To seek the Lord is to desire
to know Him. By nature, we do not know Him.
By nature, we do not seek Him. God looked down from heaven to
see if there was any that sought Him, and He found none. We do
not seek Him. We do not know Him. We must confess,
I do not know the Lord, and I do not seek the Lord. But to seek
him is to desire to know him. What did Paul say? He said that
I might know him. That is the true desire of every
believer, that we might know him and be found in him, the
Lord Jesus Christ. I stand here today confessing,
I want to know who God is. I have to know him. There are
many who worship a false god, I need to know the true God.
I need to know the true and living God. Turn over to Isaiah 45 with
me. Isaiah 45. Look at verse 19. This is the Lord speaking. He
just said in verse 18, I am the Lord and there is none else.
I have not spoken in secret in a dark place of the earth. I
said not unto the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain. I, the Lord,
speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.
He said, I didn't tell the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain.
The truth of the matter is all of us by nature and many today
seek God in vain. They seek God in vain. Seeking
the Lord is so much more than just coming to church. It's so
much more than making a profession and saying I believe. It's so much more than just treating
people right and doing the right thing. It's more than becoming
religious. That's not seeking the Lord.
Look at verse 20, he said, All of us by nature, we pray unto
a God that cannot save. It's exactly what we all do.
Until God causes us to pray to him. I just said many multitudes are
in church pews today worshiping a false god like it just said,
praying unto a false god that cannot save. The Lord tells us
in verse 27, assemble yourselves and come. Gather around the truth. Gather around the truth, hear
the word of the Lord, gather with God's people. Draw nigh
to God and he'll draw nigh to you. Come to where God promised
to meet with his people. And I pray that's what we're
here for today. I pray that's why we're here
today. You know, again, we get in a routine of life. We all
have a routine, a daily routine, a weekly routine. We come here. Well, I pray that right now we
have come with a desire to seek the Lord. I pray that we have
come here to hear the word of the Lord. And you know where
we will find him? Remember Mary? Remember what
she did? She sat at his feet. Our brother just told us we fall
down at his feet. That's where we will find him.
Oh, may God cause us to seek him. And look here in Isaiah
45, look at verse 21. He said, tell ye and bring them
near. Yea, let them take counsel together.
Who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that
time? Have not I the Lord? And there
is no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior. There is none
beside me. Look unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, for
I am God and there is none else. What is it to seek the Lord?
It's to look unto Him. Stop looking at ourself. That's
what we do. We look right here for everything.
He said, look unto me and be ye saved. May God give us the
grace to truly look to Christ. To seek the Lord is to behold
Him. To behold Him. Turn back to Psalm
27. Keep a finger here in Isaiah
45 and turn to Psalm 27. Psalm 27 verse four says, one
thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after, that
I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life
to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
What is it to seek the Lord? It's to behold him, to desire
to behold him in all his beauty, to be in his house, his temple,
Look at verse seven, verse seven. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with
my voice. Have mercy also upon me and answer
me when thou saidst, seek ye my face. My heart said unto thee,
thy face, Lord, will I seek. Thy face, Lord, will I seek.
I pray God will cause us to seek him. I can't say it enough. I
pray God will cause us to seek him. Look back at Isaiah 45. Verse 23, the Lord says, I have
sworn by myself the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness
and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every
tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in the
Lord have I righteousness and strength. Even to him shall men
come, and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall
glory. What is it to seek the Lord?
It's to bow to him. We bow to the Lord in faith and
we confess thou art holy. This is what I deserve. I deserve
to die, but you're holy. You're just God and a savior. You sent your son, your only
begotten son, to die for the sins of your people and you forsook
him because you're holy. God is holy and God can save
us. God can only save us Accordance
with his holiness and justice and that's exactly what he did
in verse 25 It says in the Lord shall all the seed of Israel
all God's people they shall be Justified how in Christ in him
only in him and we shall glory in the Lord to seek the Lord
is to glory in the Lord we glory in one place and that's in Christ
only in him and What is it to seek the Lord? It's to desire
Christ in Him alone. I mean, it's to desire Him in
Him alone. It's to trust in Him alone. It's to look to Him as all our
hope before God. Look back in Isaiah 55. Verse six, seek ye the Lord while
he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. When should we seek the Lord? While he may be found. You know
what that means? That just implies he won't always
be found. I pray we'll see the seriousness
of this. Seek the Lord while he may be found. One day it's
gonna be too late. The day is appointed, the time
is appointed. It's appointed unto men once
to die, but after this the judgment. There's gonna be some that look
for him, that look for his appearing, and he's gonna appear the second
time without sin unto salvation, but not everybody's gonna be
looking for him. Not everybody's gonna be looking for him. Seek
him while he may be found. Look with me at Proverbs chapter
one. It's a very solemn passage of
scripture here, but I believe we need to see it. Proverbs 1. Verse 20. Proverbs 1.20 says, Wisdom crieth
without. She uttereth her voice in the
streets. She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings
of the gates, in the city she uttereth her words, saying, how
long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? And the scorners
delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Turn you
at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit
unto you. I will make known my words unto
you, because I have called and ye refused. I have stretched
out my hand, and no man regarded. But ye have said it not all my
counsel, and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh at
your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh,
when your fear cometh as a desolation, and your destruction cometh as
a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then
shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall
seek me early, but they shall not find me. For that they hated
knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would
none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall
they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their
own devices. For the turning away of the simple
shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall
be quiet from fear of evil. One day they're gonna seek him,
but they shall not find him. As verse 33 tells us, I pray
God will cause us to hearken unto him. I pray God will cause us to hearken
unto him. We'll dwell safely. We'll dwell safely. Seek him while he may be found.
Behold, now is the accepted time. You know that, right now. There's
no better time than the present. Now's the time. Behold, now is
the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Right now. May we seek the Lord
right now. Right now. Back in our text. So seek ye the Lord while he
may be found. Call ye upon him while he's near,
while he is near. Brethren, the Lord is near. He said where two or three, there's
about 40, 50 of us here, where two or three are gathered together
in my name. There am I in the midst of them.
The Lord is near. Oh, may we seek him, may we call
upon him while he's near. I want us to briefly consider
a few who called upon the Lord while he was near. I pray this
will be a blessing to us. Turn to Matthew chapter eight. Our Lord walked this earth and he was constantly near people. Well, though he was constantly
near people, very few were near him. Very few. Well, here's one in Matthew chapter
eight, verse one. When the Lord Jesus was come
down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. Note
that, great multitudes, okay? There were great multitudes following
him. Now look at verse two. And behold, there came a leper. Great multitudes were there.
And behold, there came a leper. and worshipped him, saying, Lord,
if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. If you will, Lord,
you can make this poor sinner clean. Verse three, and Jesus
put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed. That leper, he drew near to God,
and God drew near to him. He came with a need. I'm a leper. I'm sick. I'm dying. I'm dead. But Lord, if you will, you can
make me clean. You can make me whole. Turn over
to Mark chapter 10, verse 46. Mark 10, 46. And they came to Jericho. And
as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number
of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the
highway side begging. Again, here is a great number
of people. And then there's blind Bartimaeus.
Look at verse 47, and when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. And many charged him, all these
other people that are standing here, they charged him to hold
his peace. But he cried the more a great
deal. Don't you love that? We who call
upon the Lord, We just can't help but love to have him. Here
they are telling him, just be quiet. Big stop, just be quiet. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. He cried the more. Verse 49,
and Jesus stood still. He commanded him to be called,
and they called the blind man, saying unto him, be of good comfort.
Rise, he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment,
rose and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said
unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said
unto him, Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately
he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way. This man had a need. He heard
that the Lord was passing through. So he started crying. He sought
the Lord. And the Lord drew near to him.
And the Lord stood still for him. The Lord had mercy upon
him. He gave him sight. And I love
that it tells us he followed him in the way. He followed him
in the way. Turn over with me to Luke 23. Luke 23, 39. And one of the malefactors which
were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself
and us. You know, that's us by nature. If you be Christ. Save yourself,
but save us. That's the fleshly cry, okay?
Well, verse 40, but the other, by the grace of God, answering,
rebuked him, saying, Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art
in the same condemnation? Are you not in awe of who he
is and what he's doing? Do you not fear God, seeing thou
art in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly? For we receive the due reward
of our deeds, we're getting exactly what we deserve. This is exactly
what I deserve. But this man hath done nothing amiss. It's
the God man. It's the perfect man. This is
Christ. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, you notice all these men
that we're looking at, They didn't just seek Jesus. They saw the
Son of David. They saw David's Lord and David's
God. They saw the Lord. They saw the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't just seek Jesus. That's
His name of humanity. We seek Jesus Christ. We seek
the Lord. We seek God. He said unto Jesus,
Lord, remember me. when thou comest into thy kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee, today shalt
thou be with me in paradise. That leper, he called upon the
Lord. Lord, if you will. He had a need. Blind Bartimaeus, he called upon
the Lord. He had a need, and the Lord stood
still for him. That thief on the cross, he cried,
Lord, remember me. Have mercy upon me. The Lord
heard these men, he said, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Psalm 145 verse 18 says, the Lord is nigh unto all them that
call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth, in truth. May we call upon him while he's
near, brethren. Oh, I pray God will cause us
to call upon him while he's near. We've seen what it is to seek
the Lord, to know him, to desire to know him, and to desire to
know him more. You know, we keep coming back. We want to know him more. More
of him would we know. It is to draw near to him, to
sit at his feet, to hear his word. It's to look unto Him,
to look unto Him for all our hope, all our hope, all our salvation
as everything. And it's to glory in Him. And
we just saw when we're to seek Him, while He may be found, while
He's near. You know what that means? Right
now, right now. This might be the only chance
we have. You know, we don't believe that, do we? that this might
be the last time God's pleased to speak to us through his word?
It might be. It might be. Well, I want to
leave you with some good news. We've seen what it is to seek
the Lord. We've seen when we should seek the Lord. Now I want
to tell you when we will seek the Lord. Look back at our text. Somebody's gonna seek the Lord. Somebody is going to seek the
Lord. Isaiah 55 verse 6 again. Seek
ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he's near. Let the wicked forsake his way
and the unrighteous man his thoughts. You know when we'll seek the
Lord. When God reveals to us, I'm wicked. Very few believe
that about themselves. I certainly didn't. Not until
God revealed it to me. There's none good. All the imaginations
of the thought of this evil heart, that's exactly what it is, evil.
Continue, I drink iniquity like water. It's all I know how to
do. And I didn't teach myself that. God must teach us that. And not only wicked, it says
unrighteous. The unrighteous man, that's me.
That's me. Wicked and unrighteous, we will
not forsake our ways. You know, every way of a man
is right in his own eyes. It's the same for all of us.
Whatever we think is the right way, it's right in our own eyes. God says, let the wicked forsake
his way. We must forsake our way. Let
the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts all our thoughts about
God all our thoughts about his word his Christ Ourselves, it's
all wrong. It's all wrong. God must be our
teacher. He must show these things to
us He must reveal the truth to us and in us and if he ever does
We'll seek the Lord Absolutely, we'll seek the Lord We will not seek the Lord until
God reveals Christ in us. That's my only hope of glory,
Christ in us. That's the only hope. Christ
liveth in me. If Christ does not live in me, I have no hope
whatsoever. None whatsoever. I'm dead and
my life is hid with Christ in God. That's where my life is.
Christ is my life and when he shall appear, praise God, we'll
appear with him in glory. God must reveal to us Christ
is all. And we can read it on the page, but until God makes
it effectual in the heart, we won't believe it. Look at verse
seven again. It says, 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. You know when we'll seek the
Lord? When we need mercy. Those three men we just looked
at, they needed mercy. They cried, God, be merciful
to me, a sinner. When we see our sin, when we
stand in awe of the revelation that I'm nothing but sin, but
that there's a savior, his name is Jesus Christ, and he's pleased
to reveal himself to us through his word, when God shows us him,
we'll seek him. We will seek him. But not until
then. God must reveal himself to us.
When we need pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, we'll
seek him. When we need forgiveness of sins
through his blood, we'll seek him. We'll seek him, but not
until then. Look at verse eight. The Lord
said, for my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your
ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways. and my
thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down from
heaven, I'm sorry, for as the rain cometh down and the snow
from heaven, and returneth not thither but watereth the earth
and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to
the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, And it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. God is pleased to
send his word. That's what that verse just told
us. God is, praise God, he's pleased to send his word. Where
does he send his word? Wherever he's pleased to send
it. You know this? Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. You know when we'll seek the
Lord? We'll seek the Lord when God sends his word to our heart. God does the sending, he sends
a word, and he sends it to the heart. Gives us a heart, a new
heart that believes his word, that loves his word, that desires
his word. And you know what? When God sends
his word, when God purposes to send his word to a heart, it
shall not return void. It shall not. It shall accomplish
that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where to
I sent it. Praise God. Praise God. Turn over just a
couple pages to Isaiah 62. Isaiah 62 verse 11. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed
unto the end of the world, say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold,
thy salvation cometh. Behold, his reward is with him
and his work before him. And they shall call them the
holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. And thou shalt be called
sought out, a city not forsaken. Is that not amazing? Thou shalt
be called sought out. Now hold on now. I thought this
message was about us seeking the Lord. Yeah, it is. But the good news isn't I sought
the Lord. The good news is the Lord sought me. Thou shalt be called sought out. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Is that good news to you? I need
to be sought out. I don't know about you. I need
to be sought out. And you know why God will seek
his people out? For Christ's sake. That's the only reason.
He'll send his word. Christ is the word. He will be
everything to us. And as a result of him revealing
himself to us and in us, we will seek him. We will seek him. Jeremiah 29 13 says, and you
shall seek me and find me when you shall search for me with
all your heart. You shall. You shall. May God enable us
to seek him and find him. I pray he would. I want to close
reading a verse of a song. I don't know if we've ever sung
it here, but it's in our book, and I believe it's a good song.
It says, in tenderness, he sought me. Weary and sick with sin,
and on his shoulders, he brought me back to his fold again, while
angels in his presence sang until the courts of heaven rang. Oh,
the love that sought me. Oh, the blood that bought me.
Oh, the grace that brought me to the fold. wondrous grace that
brought me to the fold. Amen.