Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I invite you to turn with me
in your Bibles this morning to Isaiah chapter 55. Isaiah 55
verses 6 and 7 will be our text this morning. Preachers are servants. Servants. That's what we are. Messengers who deliver the message. The message that we preach is
not our own message. A true messenger is not delivering
his own message. He's delivering the message of
someone else. So the message we preach is not
our own message. It means it doesn't come from
us. A man once said, a preacher is a man sent from God with a
message from God for that hour, that hour. Well, with that being
said, I believe I have a message for us. Isaiah 55 verse six says,
seek ye the Lord. Now let me say this to us three
different ways. Here's the first one. Seek ye
the Lord. Seek. Seek. Seek. Here's the second way. Seek ye the Lord. You. Me. us. Seek ye the Lord. And seek ye the Lord. The Lord. If you have no idea who Jesus
Christ really is, seek ye the Lord. Seek ye the Lord. If you've never heard him, speak
to you through his word. He said, my sheep, hear my voice.
If you've never heard him, call your name through his word. Seek
ye the Lord. If you have heard his beautiful
voice and you long to hear it again, seek ye the Lord. Seek ye the Lord. What do you
mean, hear his voice? One man asked a preacher one
time, does the Lord speak out loud? And he said, no, no, it's
not out loud. It's much louder than that. Much
louder than that. If you desire that the Lord would
do for somebody else what he's done for you, then seek you the
Lord. Seek you the Lord. Don't seek
religion. Don't seek religion. Don't seek
church. People say all the time, we need
to be in church. No, you don't. Come and worship
with us. There is a place where the Lord
said He would put His name there and meet with His people there
and forsake not the assembling together with other saints. But
we don't need to be in church, we need to be in Christ. Seek
Him. There's a difference. There is
a difference. Seek Him. Isaiah 55 verse 6 says,
Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. Call ye upon him while
he is near. This is urgent. This is urgent. Seek the Lord while he may be
found. Why? Why? I have a center margin in my
Bible. It gives scripture references
that support whatever verse you're looking at. And here are the
references that are in my Bible for this particular verse. It
says Matthew 5.25 and Luke 13.25, John 7.34, 2 Corinthians 6, 2, and Hebrews
3, 13. I want us to look at those, and
I believe we're gonna see why we need to seek the Lord. The
first one is Matthew 5, verse 25. If you have your Bibles open,
let's turn to Matthew 5, verse 25. It says, agree with thine
adversary quickly. whilst thou art in the way with
him, lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and
the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into
prison." We must seek the Lord. Why? Why must we seek the Lord? Here's why. It's because sinful
man, and that's you and me, And I don't mind saying me and you,
I'll start with me. Sinful man by nature is an adversary
to God. Adversary to God. We must seek
a way for agreement. We must be reconciled to God. If we're not, we're going to
be delivered to the judge and the judge is going to cast us
out. And I'm telling us the truth
right now. I need to seek the Lord. I need to seek the Lord. Here's the second scripture reference.
It's Luke chapter 13, verse 25. Let's turn over to Luke 13, verse
25. It says this, when once the master
of the house is risen up and hath shut to the door, and you
begin to stand without and to knock at the door, saying, Lord,
Lord, open unto us. And he shall answer and say unto
you, I know you not, whence you are. Noah, the scripture says,
was a preacher of righteousness. And he cried unto the people
for 120 years. The door of the ark is open. It's open. Enter in. Whosoever will, let him come. And one day, God shut the door. And I can only imagine when that
water started to rise, those people started beating on that
door. Let us in. We want in. We need to be in. Well, our Lord said, I am the door. I am the door. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I will give you
rest. All that come to him, he won't
cast any out. But once the door is shut, it'll
be too late. All who come at that point are
going to hear him say, depart from me. I never knew you. Paul the apostle said, oh, that
I may know him. I need to know him. I must know
him. I need to seek the Lord. Seek
ye the Lord. Well, here's the third scripture
reference. It's John chapter seven, verses
33 and 34. John 7, 33 says this. Then said Jesus unto them, yet
a little while am I with you and then I go unto him that sent
me. You shall seek me and shall not
find me. And where I am, thither you cannot
come." Cannot come. Once I'm gone, you will not be
able to find me. And where I'm going, you cannot
come. No man on this earth is worthy
to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Most people think, well, I hope
I've done enough good in this life to get me into heaven. I'm
sorry to say you haven't. I'm sorry to say, but I'm just
telling you the truth. All of our righteousnesses are
filthy rags. That's what the scripture says. Every good thing we've ever done
is just covered with pride. We're so proud of it. That's
the number one sin the Lord hates, is pride. All our motives are wrong. All
our thoughts are wrong. All our actions are wrong. And
where our Lord went when he left this earth, we by nature cannot
go there. Getting a hold of that, it brings
us a little bit of understanding on what is the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord. I'm not
worthy. The fear of the Lord has something
to do with being afraid. Fear motivates. How wise is it to seek the Lord
while he may be found? Call while he's near. The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That's what the word
says. Why should we seek the Lord? Here's our next reference. It's 2 Corinthians chapter 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 2
says this, For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted,
and in the day of salvation have I succored thee. Behold, now
is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation."
Why should we seek Him? It's because right now is the
accepted time. It's good news. This message
we deliver is good news to sinners. God will accept us in Christ
right now. is the day of salvation. Good
news, it's today. Today. Why should we seek Him? It's because He's near. He's
near. He said, where two or three are
gathered in my name, I am among them. I'm with you. I'm there
right now. There's a song that says, reach
out and touch the Lord as He's passing by. You'll find he's
not too busy to hear your heart's cry. He is passing by this moment,
your need to supply. Reach out and touch the Lord
as he goes by. Seek the Lord while he may be
found. Call on him while he's near. The last reference to that verse
of scripture is Hebrews chapter three, verse 13. And it says
this, But exhort one another daily while it is called today,
lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." Exhort
one another. Exhort one another. Seek ye the
Lord. This is the day. Today is the
day. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call ye upon him while he's near."
Now, that's the commandment. Now here's the question, and
this is the heart of this message. Here's the question. How? Seek the Lord. How? What does that mean? What does
it mean and how does a sinner seek the Lord? Well, turn with
me over to Jeremiah chapter 29. Jeremiah 29 verse 13 says this,
and you shall seek me and find me when you shall search for
me with all your heart. All your heart. Seeking the Lord has everything
to do with the heart. Proverbs 4.23 says, out of it,
and it's referring to the heart. Out of it are the issues of life. People think they have to go
somewhere or do something to seek the Lord. They attach it
to morality. They think they'll find God through
good works, doing good things. Here's the commandment, come
to Christ, but don't move a muscle. God looks on the heart. He looks
on the heart. He said, you shall seek me and
find me when you shall search for me with all your heart. That's how a person seeks God.
They seek him with all of their heart. Now, what does that mean? What does that mean? What does
it mean to seek Him with all your heart? Let me give you four
things that that means. Here's the first one. It means
I acknowledge in my heart that I do not know the Lord or have
the Lord. Unless God the Father draws a
sinner to Himself, Christ said, no man can come to me except
the Father draw him. And it takes God the Father drawing
a sinner for a sinner to realize that. You go telling people you
don't know God and you don't have God, and number one, they're
gonna think you're crazy, and number two, they're gonna hate
you for what you just told them, even though the Word of God says
it's the truth. I acknowledge in my heart that
outside of Jesus Christ, I don't know the Lord, and I don't have
the Lord. He said, no man knows the Son,
save the Father. No man knows the Father, save
the Son, and whoever the Son will reveal Him. Nobody knows. I don't know the Lord, I don't
have the Lord. A person is not gonna search
for something that's already in the palm of their hand. If
I'm holding it in my hand, then I'm not going to go searching
for it. Most people believe they have Jesus in their back pocket.
They really do. They've got Him on standby just
in case they need Him. And they can pull Him out whenever
they need Him and then put Him right back. Seeking the Lord
begins with a realization through His Word that man by nature is
separated from God, totally separated from God. It begins with a firm
belief that I do not have Him. Oh, but I need Him. I need Him. Secondly, seeking
the Lord is a burning desire deep in the heart for Him. Him. So many reasons. There are so
many reasons that people begin to seek religion, begin
to seek church. It starts with guilt. People
know they're sinners. We can try to fool ourselves
and deny it, but we know we're sinners. We know what our heart
is. We know what our minds think.
We know we're sinners. And there's so many reasons why
people, you know, well, I need to get back in church. I need
to straighten up and fly right. You know, I just, I feel bad
for the things I do and the things I say. That's not seeking the
Lord. That is not seeking the Lord. Seeking the Lord is a burning
desire for Him. Him. It's to know Him. It's to have Him. It's love for Him. And it's knowing who He is. We just
said it's to realize that I don't know Him. Do I really know God
the way He set Himself forth in the Scriptures? The true God
of Scripture? And once I see it, it's to love
Him for who He is. Before my wife and I started
dating, before we even started dating, I knew her. And I was,
I was confirmed. I was convinced, confident of two things. Here's
the first one. I don't have her. Not yet. And here's the second one. I
want her with all my heart. I didn't want to just be married.
I wanted her. I didn't want to just be in love.
Well, anybody will do. I just need to be in love. No,
I need her. Now, here was the question. Will
she have me? I want her, but will she have
me? I don't know. I don't know. How
can I find out? I'm gonna seek her. I'm gonna
seek her with all my heart. I grew up eight hours from where
she grew up. My town was eight hours away
from her town. So you know what I did? I packed
all my stuff up and I moved to her town. I went where she was. She wasn't just anywhere. I had
to go where she was. Still didn't have her when I
got there. So I found every excuse I could
to go to her house. Every excuse, every reason I
could possibly think of to get to her house. I wanted to draw
nigh unto her to see if she would draw nigh unto me. I must have
her. My heart hurts for her. David
said, as the heart, the deer, panteth after the water brooks,
so panteth my soul after thee, O God. As a deer longs to taste
that fresh water in the stream, O Lord, my soul longs for you. Our salvation is not a doctrine. We're not just trying to lay
out a doctrine, a jigsaw puzzle of doctrine. It's a person. It's a person. It's not a way
of thinking. It's a person. It's of the heart. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what it is. He said, this is life eternal,
that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. Oh, that I may know him. To seek
God is to, number one, know that I don't have him. Number two,
it's to greatly desire to have him. And number three, it's to
be willing in my heart to be accepted by him on his terms. Now here's an illustration of
what that means. Let's say a man has committed
a crime and he's guilty. Everybody knows he's guilty and
he stands before the judge and the judge says, young man, do
you want to stay out of jail? And the man says, yes, sir, I
do. The judge says, then here are my terms. You're going to
have a 10 o'clock curfew. You're going to have 200 hours
of community service, and you're going to have to report to a
parole officer. Those are my terms. Do you agree to my terms? Yes, sir, I do. We are guilty
sinners, you and me. God owes us nothing. God says, I created you and you
sinned against me. I sent my son to live for you
and be your righteousness. I sent my son to die for you
and be your atonement, your sin offering. I will only accept
you in my Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. These are my terms. Do you bow to these terms? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Our Lord said, my people will
be willing in the day of his power. I'm such a vile sinner
by nature. If God didn't make me bow, I
never would. I would hold my fist in the air
and say, no, I don't. Thanks be to God. He makes his
people willing. Oh, yes. Yes, I do, Lord. Seek the Lord. Seek the Lord,
because in order to be accepted by God the Father, we must have
God the Son. We must have Him. Lastly, what
is it to seek the Lord? It's to seek the Lord and be
willing in the heart to part with everyone and everything
that stands between me and union with Him. That's what it truly
means to seek Him. It's to be willing to part with
everyone and everything that stands between me and union with
Him. Turn with me over to Matthew
chapter 10. Verse 32, our Lord said, Whosoever therefore shall
confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father
which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before
men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven.
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to
send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, and the daughter against her
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And
a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth
father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he
that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy
of me. He that findeth his life shall
lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."
Abraham believed God, and he left his home, and he left his
family, and he sojourned in the earth as God moved him, and he
offered his only son. He gave his own son to Abraham. Now God was merciful to Abraham
and he stopped Abraham before he killed Isaac. But Abraham
in his heart, he gave up his son. In Abraham's heart it was
a done deal and God looked on his heart. Now back in our text
in Isaiah 55 verse 6 says, 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." Now, even though this
text sounds like it's saying, if you will do this, then God
will do that. What it's actually saying is
this, if you will do this, then it's an evidence that God has
already done that. Isaiah 65 verse one says, I am
sought of them that asked not for me. I am found of them that
sought me not. Then how did it happen? The Lord
said, I said, behold me. Behold me unto a nation that
was not called by my name. That's how it happens. It is
God which worketh in us. God gets all the glory in salvation. Until next Sunday morning, may
the Lord bless His Word. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m. Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.