Sought Out

Q: What does the Bible say about being called the holy people?

The Bible refers to the redeemed as the holy people, signifying their set-apart status by God's grace and election. In Isaiah 62:12, it is declared that God's people shall be called 'the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord.' This indicates that holiness is not just a characteristic but a title bestowed by God’s grace. We are considered holy because of what God has accomplished through Christ, who makes us holy and blameless before Him. The essence of being called 'holy' speaks to our identity as those set apart by God’s choice and grace, not based on our actions but on Christ's redemptive work.

Q: How do we know that sanctification is a work of God, not ourselves?

Scripture teaches us that sanctification is solely the work of God, achieved through His election and the redemptive work of Christ. Sanctification is fundamentally a work of God, as outlined in Jude 1 and Hebrews 10:10. We are sanctified by God's elective purpose—set apart by His decree—and by the blood of Christ, which purges our sins and declares us holy. The New Testament never describes sanctification as a progressive work dependent on human effort; instead, it reveals that we are already sanctified through the finished work of Christ and His effective call. True sanctification is realized in our election, redemption, and ultimately in the work of the Holy Spirit in our regeneration and glorification.

Q: Why is the concept of being 'sought out' important for Christians?

'Sought out' emphasizes God’s initiative in salvation, showing that our calling to faith stems from His grace, not our own seeking. 'Sought out' is a profound title that illustrates the sovereign grace of God, as revealed in our desperate spiritual condition. Before we sought Him, we were lost, dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:1). The beautiful truth is that while we were resistant and unwilling, God, in His mercy, sought us out. He did not leave us in our depravity but reached out with irresistible grace. This concept should fill Christians with gratitude, as it is God's love and mercy that has led us to salvation; we are assured that we did not and could not choose Him on our own, but He chose us first.

Q: How does redemption relate to our holiness?

Redemption through Christ's blood directly contributes to our holiness, as we are declared holy and set apart in Him. Redemption is intricately connected to our holiness in multiple dimensions. In Ephesians 1:7, it states that we have redemption through His blood, which speaks to our deliverance from sin and condemnation. Our holiness stems from being redeemed; through Christ's sacrifice, we are declared holy as God looks upon us. This declaration of holiness is not merely theoretical but is an essential aspect of our identity as chosen people. The work of redemption effectively sets us apart, allowing us to be seen as blameless and pure before God, thus affirming our status as His holy people.

Let's turn together to Isaiah chapter 62 and verse 12. Isaiah chapter 62 and verse 12. Here are four things which the Lord God declares shall be true of all his people. When the work of Christ is finished, when the purpose of God has been accomplished, when grace has finished all her works, these things shall be true of all God's elect, and they shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord.

And thou shalt be called sought out, a city not forsaken." What marvelous, marvelous names by which we who are chosen, redeemed, and saved by the grace of God are to be called the holy people. Isn't that astonishing? They shall call them the holy people. That's some name for us to wear. The holy people. I hear men talk a lot about holy men. And in a sense, we recognize that it's proper to speak like the scriptures do of holy men of old who spoke as they were moved by the Spirit of God. But I find it very uncomfortable to talk about folks being holy. I really do. I recognize we're holy only because grace has made us holy.

But here, the Lord God says, they shall call them the holy people. The indication being that when God has finished all his works and when all the elect are saved, everyone shall call them the holy people. All the legions of hell, all the angels of God, and the triune God himself shall look upon all the multitude of the redeemed and say, these are holy people. These are the holy people. God chose us that we should be holy and without blame. Christ redeemed us, that he should present us to himself a spotless church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that we should be holy and without blame before him.

And so here we are told they shall be called the holy people. Now this word holy is the basic meaning of the word sanctify or sanctify. When the scripture says we are saints, it means we're holy. When the scripture says we're sanctified, it means we have been made holy. We have been made righteous and holy before God Almighty.

But please understand, the term cannot be used in a relative sense. Either you're holy or you're not. You can't be partially holy. One person can't be more holy than another person is. One person can't be more perfect than another person is. Either you're holy, perfectly holy, or you're not holy at all.

And so when the Scripture speaks of our sanctification, our holiness, it speaks of it in a threefold way, and it's so very, very important that you understand this. Most of the time when people talk about sanctification or talk about holiness, talk about righteousness, they have the idea that somehow after we are saved, we make ourselves more and more holy. We make ourselves more and more righteous. We progress daily in the business of sanctification so that after a while, a man becomes riper and riper and riper for heaven until at last, when he's ripe for heaven, the Lord calls him home.

Oh no. No, that's nowhere implied in Holy Scripture. The word sanctify, or sanctified, or sanctification, is never one time in the New Testament used in a progressive sense, that is, as something that you continue to improve on. It is never used in the present tense. It is never used in reference to something that you are to do for yourself. But it is always set forth in these three ways. This is how we are made holy. Now, I want you to get this. I want you to get it good. We are made holy by three things, by three works of God, not by something we do. Sanctification is never considered to be a conditional thing. No aspect of salvation is conditional. No aspect of salvation depends on us. Sanctification is not something we contribute toward the business of salvation. But rather we are sanctified, number one, by God's elective purpose. We were set apart to be holy by God's decree.

That's how Jude uses the word. Turn over to Jude, verse one. Jude, verse one. Now, I want you to see this. So important when you start to study scriptures and you start to try to talk in the language of scripture about the things of God. And that's how we ought to talk in the language of scripture. be certain that you understand how the Scripture teaches a specific doctrine. In Jude, verse 1, Jude addresses his epistle, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father.

Them that are sanctified, not them who shall be, them who are. Not them who are in the process of being sanctified, but to them who are sanctified, sanctified by God the Father. But look at it now. And preserved in Jesus Christ. And called. Now notice the order in which Jude writes. And he writes in this order by divine inspiration. He says we were sanctified by God the Father. and preserved in Jesus Christ and called, and that's exactly the order in which he intended to write it. So he's telling us we were sanctified by God's elective purpose when he set us apart from all the rest of fallen humanity and said, these shall be my people. They shall be holy. They shall be holy. They're set apart for me to be holy.

And then we were preserved through the days of our pilgrimage in this world, preserved throughout the time of our rebellion, preserved under the time of our calling, and in the time of God's love, called by His grace. Do you see that? All right, secondly, the word sanctify means that we have been declared holy by God's grace in redemption. Look at Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews the 10th chapter.

We are sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. Sanctified by God looking on the sacrifice of his Son and declaring us to be holy. The Lord Jesus by his obedience unto the Father has brought in and established righteousness for us which God imputes to every one of his elect and he has by his blood atonement removed our sin our sin from the record of divine justice. And in that sense, we are sanctified because the record book of heaven says there's no sin.

Now my heart convinced me not, pure before the law I stand. We just say it. Pure, sanctified, holy before God's law I stand. Look here in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 10. By the witch We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ one time. Look at verse 14.

For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. So sanctification first is in God's election. He set us apart and said, I'll have you. From eternity, he said, this is These people are mine, I will be their God and they shall be my people. And then in redemption, he actually came and purged away the record of our sin and has made us holy, declaring us to be holy.

You remember in the Old Testament, the articles of furniture in the tabernacle were set apart for God. The Ark of the Covenant was just, it was just a piece of wood. It was overlaid with a little gold, but it's still just a piece of wood. That's all it was, except for one thing, just one thing.

God said, it's mine. He said, don't you dare touch it. Don't you dare touch it. That's mine. That's exactly what God's purpose of grace and election did for us. The Lord God said, these people are mine. They're mine. And he says to the demons of hell and to life and death and all things in heaven, earth and hell, don't touch them. They're mine. They're mine. They'll be mine in that day when I make up my jewels. But then God declared the articles of furniture in the tabernacle to be holy. He said they're holy. He set them apart. He said they're mine. And then he said these are holy. They're holy. Now, nothing changed in their nature. Nothing had happened. There was no change at all in the elements that made up the pieces of furniture in the tabernacle, but God said they're holy.

And in just the same way, when we were redeemed by Jesus Christ, nothing happened to us, but God declared they're holy as he made our sin to meet upon his son and caused Christ to be made sin for us. So he calls Christ's righteousness to be transferred to us, and he declares, you're holy. Though we knew it not, though no change took place on us as of yet, but he said, you're holy. So that as far as God's concerned, the work was done when Christ said it's finished.

But then the time came for the priest to come in once every year, and he sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat. And that thing, something happened. Something happened. The blood fell on the mercy seat and God said, it's holy. It's holy. The blood applied was there and mingled with the mercy seat and became a part of the mercy seat.

And in just the same way, in divine regeneration, in the effectual call of the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit comes and he imparts to us a new nature, sprinkling the blood of Christ. That is applying to us, effectually, the merits of Christ's shed blood. And he imparts to us a holy nature in regeneration. Let me show it to you in a couple of places. Look in 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1, or 2 Peter chapter 1 rather, and verse 4.

In the new birth, in regeneration, in what is termed being born again, men and women do not have God come in and clean up their old house. That's not what happens. God doesn't come in and change the old nature. He doesn't come in and change your old heart. He doesn't take away the old heart of death and sin, not in the new birth.

He does that ultimately in glorification. But in the new birth, he comes in and puts in you a new heart, a new nature, a new will. He puts his spirit within you. Look here in 1 Peter, or 2 Peter, chapter 1, verse 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises. that by these you should be partakers of the divine nature. What? Partakers of the divine nature. Turn over to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. Verse 9. Whatsoever is born of God doth not commit sin. Oh boy, that must not be me. And that must not be you. Oh yeah, oh yeah.

He's talking now about that new nature. He's talking about a new heart, a new will. He's talking about what's born of God. He's talking about what God put in you in the new birth. The old man, he's still sinning. The old man is nothing but sin. He can't do anything but sin. But this new man is put in you. He's born of God. He does not sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he's born of God. He's born of God. That's the reason the Apostle Paul says, there's no more I that do it. When I do that which I would not, there's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

It's the old man not the new one, and so the man or woman who's born of God is sanctified in the sense that God has come now and put a new nature in us. And ultimately, that sanctification shall be accomplished and finished in the business of glorification. And that's what the apostle means in 2 Thessalonians when he says, I pray God your whole spirit, soul, and body be sanctified. He's not talking about a progressive work, but he's talking about the consummation of this work, the completeness of this work, and when we have dropped this robe of flesh and been raised again in perfect glorification, we shall be perfectly, perfectly, perfectly sanctified by the power and grace of our God.

And the whole world will look upon God's elect and say, there they are, the holy people. The holy people. God will look on his people and say, there they are, the holy people. The angels of God will look upon his people and say, there they are, the holy people.

All right, we are sanctified then by God's election, and sanctified by Christ's redemptive work, and we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit in regeneration and glorification. But look at the next name given here in our text. They shall be called the redeemed of the Lord.

We are made holy because we have been redeemed. We are made holy by virtue of our redemption by Jesus Christ the Lord. Our redemption, like our sanctification, is threefold. We have been redeemed by the price of Christ's precious blood. You're redeemed not with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. died for us, that he might redeem unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. We are redeemed when Jesus Christ, with his blood, entered in once into the holy place, and there with sufficient power, with sufficient merit, with sufficient efficacy, he obtained eternal redemption for us.

He didn't just provide it, he obtained it. He didn't just make it possible, he obtained it and he obtained it for us. Secondly, we are redeemed by the power of God's sovereign grace in regeneration. He comes and he calls us, applying to us the power of Christ's blood and delivers us from the dominion of sin.

Redeemed. You see, that word redeem, it doesn't just have the implication of a price paid. That's not all it is. Redemption means deliver us by the payment of a price. So when Christ is said to redeem us, it's not that he just paid for us, but he paid for us and because he paid for us, he delivers us by the power of his spirit. So the Lord Jesus Christ sends forth his spirit at the time appointed and he delivers his people by the call of his grace, by the irresistible effectual power of his grace. He delivers them from the bondage of sin.

A beautiful illustration is the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. You remember Moses on the night of the Passover had everybody, every man in Egypt to slay a lamb. and to apply the blood to the doorpost and to the letter. Every man in Egypt, every father took a lamb, killed the lamb, sprinkled the blood on the doorpost and on the letter, and the Lord God passed through the land. And where he saw the blood, he passed over the people. That's redemption by the price of Christ's blood. Christ's blood was shed for us, and God said, that's enough. That's enough.

But Israel's still in Egypt. They're still there. They're still in those hovels down in Egypt. But the Lord God brings them out at last to the Red Sea. Pharaoh's armies are pursuing them. And when God opened up the Red Sea and they crossed over the Red Sea, they were delivered out of Egypt by the power of God. And you and I who have been redeemed by blood. At the time appointed, though we were left in darkness by nature, though we continued in our sin by nature, at the time appointed, God came and delivered us from the power of sin, from the dominion of sin. He delivered us out of Egypt, applying the blood to us. And everyone for whom blood was shed back in Egypt were delivered across the Red Sea.

As a matter of fact, not a hoof was left behind. That's what Moses told Pharaoh. is we're going out here and taking all our cattle with us. We're not going to leave anybody behind. Nobody. And I'm telling you that all of those for whom Christ shed his blood at Calvary are delivered in time by the power of God's grace. But the redemption also includes our resurrection. The Lord Jesus Christ, one of these days soon, will come again. And deliverance will come. The Apostle Paul, struggling with sin like we do, all believers do.

This is not a, this is not something that you go through and I go through, all believers experience it. Sometimes you think to yourself, boy, I can't dare talk about this to anybody. Nobody, nobody, nobody else experiences anything like this. Nobody else can imagine themselves a child of God and experience the horrid struggle with sin that I do. Oh, every believer does.

If there's not a warfare going on in your soul, you're not born of God. If they're not two natures battling against one another within you, you're not born of God. The believer is a man, a woman, in whose heart there are two mutually opposing armies, flesh and spirit. And they will never have a truce until at last we're delivered from this body of death.

The apostle Paul said, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Oh God, who shall deliver me? I thank God. He will deliver me. And when I had brought this robe of flesh and he comes again and raises me up in incorruption, transforms me, causes this corruptible to put on incorruption, this mortal to put on immortality, at last I'll be delivered, delivered, delivered, redeemed from sin.

That's the reason the Holy Spirit writes this way. Turn over to Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter one. Redemption is complete when we are at last redeemed from all the consequences of sin. When we are redeemed from all the consequences of the fall, when we are redeemed from everything associated with sin, when we are finally redeemed from sin, that's when redemption is finished. So redemption has this idea of a sacrifice and payment made. It has the idea of power applied effectually to deliver. It has the idea of complete deliverance. Complete deliverance. And here it is, Ephesians 1 and verse 13.

In whom ye also trusted, that is, you trusted the Lord God. After that ye heard the word of truth. the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, get it now, until the redemption of the purchased possession, under the praise of his glory."

The purchased possession is sitting right there. That's it, babiestas, body, soul, and spirit. Christ bought you. He bought, he purchased you. One of these days he's going to finish delivering you. Redemption. These bodies raised up in glory. Turn over to Ephesians 4, verse 30. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed until the day of redemption. You see that? So redemption has this threefold aspect as well.

We were redeemed by the price of Christ's shed blood, and all who were redeemed by the price of Christ's blood were redeemed by the power of God's Holy Spirit in regeneration, and shall be redeemed from all the consequences of sin in resurrection glory." And then, back in our text again, look at the last name given.

A city not forsaken. What a name for us, a city not forsaken. The Lord has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. He would not forsake his purpose of grace toward us, though we lived so long in rebellion against him. Though we would have nothing to do with him, though we strayed from him, though we were a sheep going astray, though we would not bow to him, though we would not come to him, he said, they shall be mine.

They shall be mine. And he never gave up his purpose. He never forsook his purpose. They shall be mine. And now, having called us by his grace, he will not forsake his work of grace in us. Not for any reason. I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. Never. Oh, who can imagine such unconditional promises? Such unconditional love, such unconditional grace, such unconditional mercy. I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. No matter what comes up, no matter what comes up around you, no matter what comes up in you, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you.

He's proven himself faithful. He said, I am the Lord, I change not. God forgive us, we change. Oh, how we change. We run hot and then we run cold so quickly. We have our highest thoughts and aspirations of holiness and righteousness, and in the same second have our lowest, most depraved imaginations. But God doesn't change. God doesn't change. We're up and we're down. We're in and we're out. God doesn't change. Having loved his own, he loves them to the end. I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you shiftless, changing, constantly changing sons of Jacob are not consumed."

Now then, there's one more name given, and I want to wrap the message up by focusing your attention on it a little bit. And thou shalt be called Saul. sought out. The Lord our God, by almighty, effectual, irresistible grace, seeks his people out of the mass of fallen, ruined humanity. Are you sought out? Sought out. I know most preachers today place a great deal of emphasis on the necessity and responsibility of sinners to seek the Lord. And that responsibility must be pressed home. Hear me well. You must seek the Lord.

If you seek him not, you will perish in your sins. And if you seek him, you shall find him when you seek for him with all your heart. No question about that. But salvation is not accomplished by a sinner seeking the Lord, but rather by the Lord seeking the sinner. And your seeking Him is the result of Him having sought you. You're called sought out if you're born of God. The Lord God Himself declares, I am found to them which sought me not. So the great question is not have you sought the Lord and found Him, but are you sought of the Lord and found by Him?

Now let me show you three or four things here, and I'll wrap this up in a hurry. First, this title implies the natural condition of all men. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians, the second chapter. If the people of God have been sought out, then it is abundantly clear that we were originally and are by nature lost. Ephesians 2 verse 1. and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and in sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world."

Everybody, everybody walks according to the course of this world. Some walk according to the course of propagate, rebellion and ungodliness and debauchery. Some walk according to the course of moral uprightness and integrity, but all walk according to the course of this world.

According to the prince of the power of the air, that is moved and dictated and governed by the influence of Satan himself, every one of us. The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation. This was our manner of life in times past. In the lust of our flesh, this is the course of the world, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.

For some, it's drunkenness, poetry, and constant perversion. For others, it's religion and uprightness and morality, but it's the lust to the flesh. It is man serving himself, walking in rebellion against God, and we're by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Here are two of the most blessed words in all the Bible, but God. Hitherto shalt thou go, and no further, but God, but God. We were running fast to hell, but God, but God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, hath quickened us together with Christ. Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace are you saved.

We were lost. Lost in our father Adam. Lost in going astray by birth so that we did what was natural for us to do. We sinned when Adam sinned as our representative, but then we were born with Adam's nature and we went astray by birth because that was just our nature.

That's just our nature. Kind of like it's the nature of a dog to, if he's a hound, to run a trail. And the nature of a dog, if he's The lamp dog would bark a lot and do nothing. It's just the nature of a dog to scratch, that's all. That's just his nature. And you can't expect anything out of a man except sin, his nature. That's just his nature.

Not only is it our nature, but by our own deliberate, willful choice and practice, we were lost. By your own practice. You hear the gospel and you say, no. No. I'll have my way. I'll do my thing. God's not going to rule me. The word of God's not going to rule me. You may enjoy a religious profession and a religious reputation. You may have been a member of the congregation here from the very beginning, but I'm telling you, if you don't know anything about this business of turning from yourself to God, you're lost.

God's people are ruled by him. But men by nature, and all of us by nature and by practice, choose a deliberate course of rebellion, we will have our own way. Many of us were manifestly lost by the accumulation of our evil habits through the force of our depraved hearts. Like the prodigal we strayed into a foreign country far away from God. like the poor wretch possessed of a legion of demons, the fetters of firm discipline could not bind us, and the chains of social opinion couldn't restrain us. I doubt that we'll ever realize, really, what this word lost means till we leave this world. is so infinitely holy, so infinitely holy.

He dwells in such light that no man, no man can approach Him. No man. The heavens are not cleaned in His sight. He charges His angels with folly. He's the infinite holiness that's God. by nature, are full of hell, corruption, sin, and depravity, vileness, wretchedness. Between us and God, there's a great gulf thick so that no man can cross over it. No man, except God himself bridged the gulf, we're lost. This is the condition of all men by nature.

And if you're without faith in Christ, this is your condition right now. Look down in verse 11 of Ephesians 2. Wherefore, remember, remember, remember. Oh, it'd be good for us to remember. That you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision made in flesh. are in the flesh made by hands, that at that time you were without Christ.

Those are the saddest words in Scripture, without Christ. If you don't have Him, you can't have anything. Without Christ. Aliens, strangers, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope without God, lost in the world.

So completely lost that we would not seek the Lord. Our Lord Jesus said, ye will not come to me that you might have life. Left to ourselves, we would wander only farther and farther away. We were lost without a wish to return. Lost without any possibility of having any such wish. Lost with only a will to rebel. Not only did we have no will to return, but we had no ability to return. We could not and we would not seek the Lord.

I know natural men have occasional thoughts about divine things. and sometimes have desires concerning spiritual things. I know that. Just passing emotions. They have thoughts about hell and judgment and thoughts about heaven and bliss and glory. And sometimes they get a little scared and preachers capitalize on it and get them to make a profession of faith.

But when all is said and done, Man by nature has no true hunger for Christ and no true hunger for righteousness. None. That's the reason they're so easily content with religion when they have no interest in worship. So easily content with a profession when they have no interest in God's presence. No true hunger for Christ. No true hunger for righteousness.

We are and we were as wandering sheep, skilled at straying, but without any desire or ability to return. But our lost estate was even more desperate. Not only did we not seek the Lord, but we had no desire for the Lord to seek us. We were so far from seeking him that when he did seek us, when he did come to bring salvation to us by his grace, we had no interest in it.

We took up arms against him and rebelled against him. We resisted his will. We resisted his grace with every fiber of our being. I well remember those early strivings of the Holy Spirit with my soul. I was resolutely determined not to become one of Christ's disciples. Determined not to bow to the dominion of Christ. Determined that I would not have him as my Lord.

T'was thy love, O God, that knew me, earth's foundations long before. That same love to Jesus drew me by its sweet constraining power. Boasting excluded, pride I abase, I'm only a sinner saved by grace. All I know to do is lift my heart and lift my hands in praise to God who sought me out. This title sought out reveals God's marvelous grace.

Turn to Romans chapter 5 verse 20. Romans chapter 5 verse 20. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more The fact that God Almighty should save any of Adam's race is a marvelous, marvelous thing. When I think of man, who he is and what he's done, and when I think of God, who he is, I'm amazed that God should save any.

It would be a marvelous act of mercy, a marvelous condescension If God should simply provide the possibility of salvation and leave it to you to have some possibility that maybe somewhere along the way you could do enough to attain God's salvation. But here's the wonder, here's the splendor of God's grace. When we would not heed his invitations of grace, when we would not hear his voice, when we would not obey the gospel, when we would not come to him, he came to us.

He sought us out. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Sought out. But the grace of God's even more conspicuous when you consider the people who were sought out.

I often go over these words in my heart. Why was I made to hear thy voice and enter Father's room while others make a wretched choice and rather die than come? And the answer is, I've been sought out. Turn to 2 Corinthians or 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Let me remind you of the rock from which you're hewn and the hole of the pit from which you're digged.

Verse 9, 1 Corinthians 6, 9, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, folks who think about it and folks who practice it. Nor idolaters, folks who bow down to stunts and folks who cherish anything more than Christ. Nor adulterers, folks who steal another man's wife and folks who think about it. Nor effeminates, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God.

And such were some of you. Such were some of you. but ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus by the Spirit of our God. Now then, if you washed in his blood sanctified by His Spirit, justified by His grace, all that you have been and are by nature is fully forgiven you.

And you're no longer this, not in God's sight. You're no longer this vile mess of iniquity, but before God, a holy He sought you out. "'Tis not that I did choose thee, for, Lord, that could not be. This heart would still refuse thee, but thou hast chosen me.

Thou, from the sin that stained me, washed me and set me free, and to this end ordained me that I should live to thee. For sovereign mercy called me and taught my opening mind. The world had else enthralled me to heavenly glories blind. My heart owns none before thee, for thy rich grace I thirst, this knowing if I love thee, thou must have loved me first." Well, I'll quit, but this title sought out is fully justified. Oh, it's a good title for us, well justified by all that we've experienced.

The one who sought us out is the Lord God himself. He sought us out in eternal election. He sought us out in covenant mercy. He sought us out in all the prevenient works of his grace and providence. He sought us out coming here among us. We were lost in the sewer of humanity and God took on himself our nature and came down here in this sewer to get us.

The Lord Jesus sought us out by his shed blood and he sought us out effectually. by the power of His Spirit. I know there is a call which may be resisted and is. A man may contend successfully against the outward call, the outward strivings of the Spirit through the gospel, but when God the Holy Spirit puts forth the hand of His grace It sticks his finger in your heart. His grace is irresistible because when he puts his hand in your heart, Ron, you have no will to resist. Sought out. Sought out. Well, what shall we do who have been sought out?

A debtor to mercy alone. of covenant mercy, I say. I will ascribe to God alone my salvation. By the grace of God, I am what I am. In God is my salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. I worship and adore the God of all grace. And I will, God helping me, I will surrender myself. All that I all that I possess to him who sought. I'll do it. Go together right now. Here I am. I'm yours, Lord. I'm yours.

And if we had been sought out, I can't think of any more appropriate thing for us to do than to spend our lives seeking out God's elect. Somehow there's got to be a There's got to be a meeting point between this business of going around and button-holding folks, trying to get them to make a profession of faith. My soul, I don't want that from you. Don't try to get folks to get saved. That's not the business of our work. But it is our business to seek opportunity, to tell folks about the Savior, and seek God's election.

Keep your heart and your mind and your soul alert so that when God the Holy Spirit opens the door for you to minister the Word, Word in due season, speak it clearly and seek out God's elect. Has the Lord Jesus sought you out? If he has, come to him. Come to him. Come and bow at his feet. Worship Him. Come confess Him. The name of this family here is sought out. And if you've been sought out, you're welcome. Come on into the family. No, if you've been sought out, you're in the family. Let us rejoice with you in God's goodness and grace upon you. Amen.

Sought Out

What does the Bible say about being called the holy people?

How do we know that sanctification is a work of God, not ourselves?

Why is the concept of being 'sought out' important for Christians?

How does redemption relate to our holiness?

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Sought Out

What does the Bible say about being called the holy people?

How do we know that sanctification is a work of God, not ourselves?

Why is the concept of being 'sought out' important for Christians?

How does redemption relate to our holiness?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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