Back to Luke 24. As I said, this passage of scripture
will be read and probably at least read at the introduction
of many services this morning, if not preached on. Many try
to recreate this event. Some make their pilgrimage to
the so-called Holy Land and actually gather around what they believe
to be the tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ and believe that in doing
that is some kind of a special worship service to the Lord.
But when these disciples actually came to the tomb that we know
was his actual tomb, they didn't have Some kind of, well, they
were there early in the morning. They must have been having a
sunrise service. No. The angels didn't say, let's
all, you know, sing a hymn and have a special service this morning.
They said, what are you doing here? That's what they said. They said, why are you here?
Didn't he tell you that he was going to rise again on the third
day and that he wouldn't be here? Why are you here then? He is
not here. And that's the end of it. If
he's not here, then there's no reason, there's no occasion for
worship. Is there? And what a sad commentary that
is on many so-called worship services, where Easter is celebrated,
but the Lord Jesus is not there. He's not present. Now, the Lord's
resurrection is a wonderful thing to consider. We preach by God's
grace. We recently, on Wednesday night,
from the Word of God, saw how that the Apostle Paul preached
the resurrection, the gospel of the resurrected Lord. And
by his grace, we do that. But there is a seeking of the
living among the dead. And surely those who see the
Lord's resurrection merely as a religious holiday, as an event,
no matter how spectacular of an event, or seeking the living
among the dead. Let me show you that in John
chapter 11. Turn there with me, please. John chapter 11. And look at verse 17. Then when Jesus came, he found
that he had lain in the grave four days already. That is, Jesus'
friend, Lazarus. He had died and was buried and
had been in the grave for four days. Now, Bethany was nigh unto
Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off. That's about two miles.
And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them
concerning their brother. And then Martha, as soon as she
heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary sat
still in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus,
Lord, if you had been here, my brother had not died. You see
the error in that? It doesn't matter where the Lord
Jesus is. He's got the keys of hell and
of death. Nobody gets in or out without him. And so the Lord's
going to teach Martha something here. And may he teach us this
morning this same truth. Lord, if you'd have been here,
my brother had not died, but I know she knows something. Even now, whatsoever thou wilt
ask of God, God will give it to you. Jesus saith unto her, thy brother
shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
She believed in the resurrection. There's going to be a resurrection.
And believers are going to be raised again from the dead. I
believe that. Jesus said unto her, I'm the resurrection, Martha.
Oh, do you see the difference? Do you see why she had to be
taught? She believed in an event. She
was excited about an event. I'm the resurrection. I'm the
life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, Yet shall he live, not he that believeth in the
resurrection, he that believeth in me. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Do you believe that, Martha?
Do you believe in the resurrection? Do you believe I am the resurrection?
Oh, my goodness, you see the difference. Seeking the living
among the dead. Salvation, life from the dead. Life is a person. How can I say that to you this
morning so that you won't go from here saying that was a nice
message and go on to hell? I'll say it as clearly as I can,
as God gives me grace to do it, and may He give you grace. He
that hath ears to hear, let him hear. If you're here to celebrate
Easter this morning, you might as well be down at a bar or something
somewhere, walking your dog. But if you're here to worship
and honor and glorify and exalt the Son of God, then thank God
for His mercy, because you're an object of His divine mercy. Salvation is a person. And this
is the significance of what those angels said there. He is not
here. So they left. You know where
they went? They went looking for Him. May
we do that this morning. Let's leave the trappings of
religion behind this morning and look for Him where He is
and worship the Son of God. We don't worship the empty tomb.
We don't worship the sunrise, we worship Him. We're not satisfied
with religious traffic, with artifacts, symbols, trinkets,
icons, holy days. We've got to have Him. We've
got to have Christ. The songwriter said this, the
bride eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face. I
will not gaze at glory, but on my King of grace. I'm not looking
for golden streets and gates of pearl. I'm looking for Him. I want to be with Him. Not at
the crown He giveth, but on His pierced hand. The Lamb is all
the glory of Immanuel's land. He is life. He is glory. He is
heaven. He is salvation. Well, why didn't
you have a sunrise, sir? Because we don't worship the
Son. We worship the Son of God. And we do it in the morning,
in the evening, and midday. It doesn't matter when. We're
just worshiping Him by His grace. Now let me caution you about
that this morning. Easter is a man-made holy day,
and it's meaningless. If you celebrate an Easter, you're
wasting your time. Worse than wasting your time.
I wish it was just a waste of time. It's worse than that. Turn
to Galatians chapter 4. And look at verse 9, would you
please? Paul is beseeching these Galatians. If you're familiar at all with
the book of Galatians, you know how Paul's heart went out to
them, because they were going back under the yoke of the bondage
of the law. And listen to verse 9. He said,
But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God,
how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements? Where
unto you desire again to be in bondage? Don't do that. Don't
go back under the old covenant. You kept not the old covenant.
There was fault in the old covenant because you could not live up
to it. Look at verse 10. You observed
days and months and times. In years, I'm afraid of you. I'm afraid for you, lest I have
bestowed upon you labor in vain." What are you doing observing
a day and a time? What difference does it make
that the sun is coming up or going down or whatever? Don't
observe a time. He preached Christ to them and
he said, why would you turn away from him to the beggarly elements
of the old covenant and be under that yoke of bondage? I'm afraid
for you. Oh, my goodness. May God plant
that in our hearts and reveal that to us this morning. The
only true object of worship and faith and love and adoration
is the person of Christ. You can hunt all the Easter eggs
today that you want to, and put your Easter bunny costume on
and hop all over town if you want to, but leave the Lord Jesus
Christ out of that. He's got nothing to do with that.
And don't worship God by keeping a day, but worship Him in spirit
and in truth in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They said
at the tomb, why seek ye the living among the dead? So let's
explore the question this morning briefly. What is it to seek the
Lord? What is it? How do we seek the
Lord? Why do we seek the Lord? When do we seek the Lord? And
where do we seek Him? By His grace, may He show us
this morning. And may we, by His grace, find
Him. And when will you do? There's not but one thing to
do when you find Him, and that's bow and worship and ask for mercy. That's what we'll do if we find
Him. Isaiah 55 6 seek you the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him. This is the commandment
of God. This is not a suggestion. This
is not to be nice. If you would, you'll have a better
life. If you do, you're not going to have life at all. You're a
dead sinner and you'll die forever unless you seek the Lord while
he may be found and call up on him. while he is near. We've already seen who it is
we seek. It's the person. Seek ye the Lord. Call upon him
while he is near. It's so easy to make an idol
out of the best of lesser things, isn't it? An idol. The Pharisees
made an idol out of the Scriptures. Did they not? Is that not what
Christ said to them? The very word of God now that
Paul said it's able to make you wise unto salvation. They made
an idol out of it, and it was a stumbling block that kept them
from Christ. That's what he said. He said
to them, you search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have
life. You think because you're a Bible
expert, you're going to go to heaven when you die. And they
are they which testify of me, and you won't come to me, that
you might have life. Life is not in the letter. It's
in the person. You won't come to me. You won't
come to me. The Scriptures, again, Paul said,
they're able to make you wise unto salvation in that they point
you to Him who is salvation. But the Scriptures are not salvation.
And your knowledge of them won't get you to the Lord Jesus Christ. They direct us to Him who is
the salvation of God. How do we seek Christ? How? Deuteronomy
4.29. You can turn there if you'd like,
but I'll read it to you. Deuteronomy 429, but if from
thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God. He just told them, you're
a bunch of idol worshipers. You're worshiping idols. But
if you seek the Lord your God, you'll find him if, if you seek
him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. Now, I've told
you before, I saw a church sign one time that said this, it asked
this question, isn't it time to try Jesus? And of course,
the answer to that is absolutely not. You don't try the Lord Jesus
Christ. You won't find that anywhere
in the Word of God, that that was the instruction. If you try
Jesus, you'll be trying something else next month. You've got to have Christ. And
there's no two ways about it. When you've got to have him,
you'll have him. You'll have him. When you can say with Jacob
there that wrestled all night with the Lord, that was the Lord
Jesus. You look at it. And he wrestled
all night with him. And then when the Lord was ready
to take him down, he touched him and Jacob went down. But
before he did, he said to Jacob, let me go. You think that was
a test, a trial? And Jacob said, I'm not going
to do it. I can't. I will not let you go, Lord Jesus,
until you bless me, until you bless me. When you can say that
with Jacob, you'll find out what it is to seek the Lord Jesus
Christ. I can't let you go. You seek him casually. And you
won't find him. Don't take this for granted that
he'll be found of you. Turn to Proverbs chapter one.
Don't take it for granted. Proverbs chapter one. So well, I'll seek the Lord when
I'm ready. No, you won't either. No, you won't. You'll seek him
when he's ready. Or you won't seek him. And if you do, you
won't find him. Look at verse 24 of Proverbs
chapter one, because I have called and you refused. His gospel is
preached in this world now. He's got his voices, his spokesman. He said, I've stretched out my
hand and no man regarded, but you have said it not all my counsel. God's preacher said, come to
Christ, look to Christ. Salvation is a person. You need
righteousness before God and Christ is your only righteousness.
You've got to have a perfect holy sin offering. to offer unto
God for your wretched sin. And Christ is the only Lamb that
God will accept. I've stretched out my hand. My
counsel has been put forth, but you set it at naught. You considered
it to be a waste of time. It's worthless. And you would
none of my reproof. I will also laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh.
When your fear cometh as 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." Don't take for granted that the Lord
will be found of thee. Seek Him now. We're going to
talk about that in a minute. But how do you seek Him? With
all your heart. With all your heart. A man whose
treasure is money. And that's all. His treasure,
he desires more than anything. His chief ambition is to be rich. He doesn't need somebody to beg
him to seek after it, does he? To pester him about it all the
time. Have you thought about making a buck today, maybe? No,
he gets up, he wakes up every morning thinking about it, doesn't
he? I've been there. I've been there. A person who's
desperately sick, they'll naturally seek help. They'll seek a remedy
for their disease. That woman with the issue of
blood, she had plenty of doctors on her list, didn't she? She
wasn't lacking any doctors. And as long as she had some money
to spend, she went to them, though they didn't do her any good.
Somebody that's addicted to a drug, when they start feeling the need
for that drug, they're going to find out where they can get
some of it, aren't they? And when you need the Lord Jesus
Christ, when you see your desperate need of Christ, you will seek
Him that way urgently. And until you do see your urgent
need of Him, you won't seek Him at all. There is no casual seeking
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Blind Bartimaeus cried out to
Christ. He said, Jesus, thou son of David,
have mercy on me. And when he was discouraged in
doing that, he cried out the more. Jesus, thou son of David,
have mercy on me. Why did he do that? Because he
needed mercy. And when they told him to shut up, he cried out
the more. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. Got to have it. Got to have Christ. I'm a mercy beggar at his feet. And where else am I going to
go? The Ethiopian eunuch traveled from Ethiopia to Jerusalem, seeking
the Lord. He observed the Jewish feast
day, seeking the Lord. On his way home, he was reading
the book of Isaiah, seeking the Lord. And when Philip came up
there and asked him if he understood what he read, he wasn't insulted
by that. He didn't say, well, of course
I understood. He said, how can I? Except somebody help me. Some man should guide me. And
he said that because he was seeking the Lord. He wanted to find out
who that was. Who is he talking about? He hath
borne our sins and our sorrows, and by his stripes we are healed.
Who's he talking about? I want to know about that. If
somebody's taking sin away, I want to know about it, don't you?
If somebody's pardoning iniquity, if somebody's taking the place
of the sinner under the wrath of the Holy God, I want to find
out who he is. Who's he talking about? And by
God's grace, Philip was used to guide him by preaching Christ
to him. And he said, I believe. I believe
with all my heart. Why do we seek the Lord? Because
we don't have any other choice. We're out of options. And until
we are, we're not seeking him. We're not seeking him. There's
nowhere else to go. John 6, 65. He said, Therefore
said I unto you that no man can come unto me, except that we're
given him of my Father. Well, that's not a popular message,
is it? You can't come to me. I'm telling
you this morning to seek the Lord. And then I'm also telling
you this. There's none that seeketh after
God. You're not going to seek him until he finds you. And the
Lord Jesus preached that. No man can come unto me unless
my Father gives you a gift, which is the enabling power to come
to me. You're not coming otherwise.
And from that time, many of his disciples went back and walked
no more with him. They didn't want to hear it.
I've seen a few do that, haven't you? And then Jesus said unto
the twelve, Are you going with them? And Peter. Boy, I tell you what, he had
his moments, didn't he? In both directions. Oh my. Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. Why do we seek the Lord? Because
he's got what we need. He is what we need. He is who
we need. He's the remedy for sin. He's
God's sin offering. He's God's righteousness whereby
you're not going to see the Lord without it, without Him. When
do we seek the Lord? Well, our text in Isaiah there
said, while He may be found. Seeking while He may be found.
When is that? Right now. Seek Him right now. That's the
only time to seek the Lord. You say, well, I'll seek Him
tomorrow. The Lord said, boast not yourself of tomorrow. You don't
know what a day is going to bring forth. You may be in hell tomorrow.
Seek him right now. 2 Corinthians 6, 2, For he saith,
I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have
I secured thee. When is that day, Lord? When
would you hear the cry of a desperate sinner? Behold now. I'll hear you right now. If you
cry out to God right now, he'll hear you. You come to Christ
and say, Lord, if you will, you can. He'll say, I will. Right
now. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Right now. Where do we seek Christ? Where? Well, the Ethiopian eunuch
we just talked about sought him in the scriptures, didn't he?
He sought him in the Word of God. He sought him first where
he's worshipped. That's a pretty good start, isn't
it? Where he's worshipped, there was much error. in the Jewish
nation in those days and those feast days have been turned into
religious ceremony. Empty, vain religion is all it
was. And yet the place of worship,
the Lord has always had a designated place where He'll be publicly
worshiped. And He started there, He went there. And He sought
Him in the Scriptures, in the Word of God. The Pharisees didn't
have life in the Scriptures, but Christ did say to them, they
are they which testify of Me. They testify of Him. who is life,
and that's a good place to start. But you're going to need, like
this Ethiopian eunuch did, some man who will guide you. Is that right? Some man. Why
did the Lord send Philip out into that desert? Philip had
just been in a big town and preaching to probably thousands of people.
And the Lord gave great success to the gospel, and He said, I
want you to go out in the desert and preach to one. Why did he
do that? That Ethiopian eunuch had the
word of God. Why didn't the Lord just reveal
himself to him as he was reading the scriptures? Because that's
not God's way. That's not his way. He sent Philip out there
into the desert. And many despise and try to bypass
God's means. But the Bible is all full of
this. Cornelius in Acts chapter 10
prayed for a revelation from God. And God sent an angel to
Cornelius and said, Cornelius, the Lord's answered your prayer.
Go get Peter, and he'll preach the gospel to you. You see that? The angel didn't preach to him.
And we're not bragging on God's preachers now. Paul said, He
that planteth is nothing, and he that watereth is nothing.
We're not bragging on the preachers. was an impetuous fellow, wasn't
he? He cut off that servant of the high priest's ear when they
came to get Christ. And the Lord Jesus said, Peter,
put your sword up. Put up your sword. That's not
how the kingdom of God is defended. And then he was a coward, wasn't
he? Peter was a coward. He denied
his Lord Jesus to save his own skin. And he was a quitter. Nobody
likes a quitter, do they? Peter was a quitter. After the
crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, he said, I'm going fishing.
And he didn't mean I'm going to go have a little recreation
and come back and preach. He said, I'm done. I quit. But when God answered Cornelius's
prayer, The Lord Jesus Christ had prepared Peter and sent Peter
and gave him a message for Cornelius. And he told Cornelius, go get
Peter. You'll find him among those who
worship him. Where do we seek the Lord Jesus
Christ? Simeon found him where he's worshiped
in the temple. He went there one day and it
said that he was one that looked for the Lord's salvation, for
the promise of his coming. And he saw that little baby that
Mary and Joseph brought in that temple, and he said, let me hold
you. And he said, Lord, now let us
thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. We seek him where he is. Well,
let's ask this final question, probably the most important,
and we'll be through. What is it to seek? The Lord
Jesus Christ. First of all, it's to see your
need of him. We've talked about that a little
bit. You're not going to seek something or someone that you
don't need. You're just not going to. The Lord Jesus... I didn't
decide that you're not going to or think that probably you
won't. The Lord Jesus said, the whole have no need of the physician. If you're not a sinner, you don't
need the Savior. And until you have a need of Christ, until
you're a sinner, and that's how we come to know our need of Christ,
is by learning that we're sinners before a holy God. That's why
he gave his law, because by the law is the knowledge of sin.
And it's a schoolmaster that brings us to Christ. By the law,
by God's holy law, we see how far we fall short of his glory. And we look for acceptance in
somebody else, because I'm not getting any in myself. I'm not
going to be acceptable before God, but He is. If I can get
in Him, God will have me. But otherwise, I'm doomed. I've
got no hope. Do you need the Lord Jesus Christ?
Let me ask you this. Or are you just interested in
the blessings that you think He's going to give you? Many
followed the Lord Jesus Christ because of the loaves and the
fishes. because they got a free meal out of it. And the Lord
said, I know your heart. I know why you're following me.
You're following me because of the miracles that I've done,
because of the loaves and the fishes. And it says, he did not
commit himself unto them, because he knew what was in their hearts.
How many this morning have come to church to get their ticket
to heaven, because they want those gates of pearl, the streets
of gold, a mansion on Glory Street. That's what we're interested
in by nature. Or is it with you, by God's grace, as it was with
Paul, who said, I'm in a straight betwixt two. Shall I stay here
or shall I go? No, I tell you what, I have a
desire to depart this place. and a walk on the street. No,
to be with Christ, which is far better than anything else. That's
the best thing right there. I want to be with him. Is that
is that your desire? Then you're seeking him. You're
seeking to seek the Lord. Secondly, is to do so on his
terms as a broken hearted, guilty Hell-deserving,
mercy beggar. Does that describe you this morning? Or are you a self-important religious
person this morning? Self-confident. Well, I've come
to make my decision, you know, and to give my life to Jesus.
I'm going to, you know, do Him a favor. Are you a beggar? Are you a beggar this morning?
If you're not, if you're not a beggar, you're not seeking
the Lord. Will you come to Him on His terms, seeking mercy at
His feet and leaving it in His hands, leaving the matter in
His hands? Lord, if You will, You can, if
You will. Titus 3, 5, Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy hath He saved us. Mercy is God not giving us what
we deserve. Lord, don't give me what I deserve. Grace is God giving me what I
don't deserve. And mercy is God not giving me
what I do deserve. Lord, don't give me what I deserve. According to His mercy, He has
saved us. He didn't give us what we deserved.
Can you come to Him that way? Are you willing to cast yourself?
Upon His mercy, can you admit this morning that God doesn't
owe anything to you except hell? Not a chance, not a shot, not
an opportunity. He doesn't owe you five minutes
this side of hell. And if He gives you five minutes
this side of hell, I'd use it to seek Him if I were you. Do you justify the Holy God in
condemning you when he says it's not right for me to take my blessings
and give them to you? Can you say truth, Lord? That's
tough now. That'll take grace because you
deserve an equal shot just like everybody else until grace comes
and shows you who you are. To seek the Lord thirdly and
finally is to seek him to the exclusion of all other things
and people." Is that what he said? Like that rich young ruler,
the Lord Jesus said, you go and sell all that you have and give
it to the poor and come follow me. Put yourself in that man's
shoes this morning. He came to the Lord saying, what
must I do to inherit eternal life? Imagine the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God looking you in the eye and saying, go
get everything you have and sell it and give it to the poor. He didn't say give it to me or
give it to my disciples. The Lord doesn't need your money.
He doesn't need anything you have or are. He said give it
to the poor. Get rid of it and come follow
me. What would you do? What would
you do? He was unable to do that. He
was unable to comply. He went away sorrowful because
he had much possessions and left him who owned it all anyway and
gives it to whomsoever he will. Is that right? He said, I make
rich and I make poor. The silver and the gold is mine.
How much? The silver and the gold is mine,
saith the Lord. Matthew 10. Let's turn there,
we'll be through in just a minute. Matthew chapter 10. And verse 32. The 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
me in him will I also deny before my father which is in heaven.
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. You see the context
of that? If you confess me before men,
there's not going to be peace. Don't think I came to make everybody
one big happy religious family. I came to send a sword. I am come, verse 35, now you
listen to this, 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. If you're an enemy of my Lord,
you're my enemy, my foe. I don't say that lightly. I have
those in my own household who are my foes. They hate my Savior. The Lord didn't say it lightly
either. 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. We're not playing, are we?
This is serious. And he that taketh not his cross
and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that findeth
his life, he that says, well, I've got my life to live. I know
we're supposed to worship Christ, but I've got my life to live.
No, you don't. And what you think you have,
you're going to lose it. But he that loseth his life,
If my life, whatever that is, revolves around the worship and
glory of Christ, then you'll find out what life is right there.
And you'll find that life is Christ. For me to live, Paul
said, is Christ. And to die is even better than
that. Is that what he said? If anything
can keep you from Christ, anything or anybody can keep you from
Christ, they will. But when nothing can keep you
from Him, nothing will. Nothing will. Lord, I'll follow
you. But let me go and bury my father
first. My dad just died. The Lord, I
know you said follow me, and I don't want to disobey you now.
I'm not going to disobey you. I'll follow you. But first, let
me go bury my daddy. Let the dead bury their dead. Let the spiritually dead bury
their physically dead. You come follow me. Well, if I don't go to my own
daddy's funeral, that's going to offend everybody. Yeah, that's
right. But they'll know where your heart is. I guarantee you
that. Are you seeking the Lord? This
message is not just for lost people, by the way. If you've
ever sought the Lord, you're seeking him this morning. The
Lord said, if my people which are called by my name shall humble
themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their
wicked ways." Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 1 now, you've turned from your
idols unto the living God. Turn from your wicked ways. Then
I'll hear you from heaven, and I'll forgive your sin, and I'll
heal your land. I like this prayer that the prophet
prayed in Lamentation 521. Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord,
and we shall be turned. May God give us grace to seek
him this morning while he may be found. and in seeking, may
we by His sovereign, distinguishing, electing grace and mercy find
the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's bow in prayer. Lord, we thank You for this exhortation,
for this command. How gracious You are, Lord, to
command that which is so glorious and so wonderful, the obeying
of which is eternal life, eternal glory, all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places. And may we obey that command,
Lord, with the command, give the power, the ability, as you
did when you said, Lazarus, come forth. He was unable to do so,
being dead. But when you gave the command,
it was the voice of power. It was the voice that cried out,
O let there be light, and there was light. And when you command
a dead sinner to live, he'll live by your grace. Give us grace
to seek you, Lord, and to never stop seeking you. to seek you
where and how and when you may be found by your grace. Bless
us this morning, Lord. Reveal Him to us. Bless us in
Him. In His precious name we pray.
Amen.