What Is It to Seek the Lord?

Q: What does the Bible say about seeking the Lord?

The Bible teaches that seeking the Lord involves searching for Him with all your heart, as stated in Jeremiah 29:13. In Jeremiah 29:13, the Scripture states, 'And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.' This signifies that a genuine and earnest effort to pursue God is rewarded with His presence. Isaiah 55:6 reinforces this by urging us to 'Seek ye the Lord while he may be found.' Seeking the Lord is not merely an act of religious obligation but an expression of deep desire and longing for a relationship with the living God.

Q: How do we know God is knowable?

We know God is knowable because Scripture promises that those who earnestly seek Him will find Him. The possibility of knowing God is rooted in the very nature of His revelation. Scripture explicitly states, as in Jeremiah 29:13, that God will be found by those who search for Him with all their heart. This assurance demonstrates that while God is transcendent and holy, He has made Himself accessible to humanity through His Word and the work of Christ. Our acknowledgment of our inability to know Him by nature—due to our sins—emphasizes the need for divine revelation, enabling us to enter into a true relationship with Him.

Q: Why is seeking God important for Christians?

Seeking God is crucial for Christians as it leads to true fellowship and knowledge of Him, essential for spiritual life. Seeking God is of utmost importance for Christians because it establishes the foundation of our faith and relationship with Him. John 17:3 defines eternal life as knowing the only true God. Without seeking Him, believers risk settling for a mere religious formality rather than an authentic relationship. Seeking God encompasses a heartfelt desire to know Him beyond mere doctrines or rituals. It is the pursuit of His presence and grace, which is integral to spiritual growth and true fulfillment in the Christian life, as indicated by the lives of biblical figures who sought Him earnestly.

Q: How should we seek the Lord according to Scripture?

According to Scripture, we should seek the Lord with all our heart, continually, and through His Word. The Scriptures outline that seeking the Lord involves two vital aspects: sincerity and diligence. We must seek Him with all our heart, ensuring no divided loyalties hinder our pursuit. This pursuit should also be continual, as depicted in 1 Chronicles 16:11, which urges believers to seek the Lord and His strength continually. Seeking Him through His Word is essential because the Scriptures reveal His character and will for our lives. By immersing ourselves in the Word, we can discern His guidance and deepen our relationship with Him, fulfilling the desire expressed in Psalm 27:4—to dwell in His presence.

Our subject today is, what is
it to seek the Lord? What does it mean to seek the
Lord? Now, in Jeremiah, chapter 29,
verse 13, the Scripture says, And ye shall seek me, and find
me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I
will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away your
captivity." And then another passage of Scripture taken from
Isaiah 55, verse 6, declares, Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. Now, is it not true, is this
not true, that what people really want, what they really want,
they will diligently seek. Is that not true? For example,
if a person really wants wealth, if he really wants an education,
if he really wants a political office, then he'll seek that
thing diligently. He'll give his time, he'll give
his effort, he'll give study. to accomplishing that goal, if
he really wants it. And then secondly, if a person
wants health, good health, and this seems to be something that
people have taken up with a great deal right now, they want good
health, and they seek it. They go to the doctor on a regular
basis and get a checkup. They read books about good health.
They diet and then they take exercise and all of these things,
get good health, a healthy body. That is, if they really want
it. And if a person wants the love and companionship of another
person, for example, a young man wishes to marry a young lady,
well, he'll pursue that person. He'll pursue that person until
he's won her favor. He'll send candy, he'll send
flowers, he'll go by to see her. In other words, he'll seek her
hand in marriage. What I'm saying is this, what
we truly want in this world, we go after it. We go after it
with all our hearts and with all our strength and with all
our effort if we really want it. And this is true also in
the spiritual realm. I'm saying that if a person really
desires to know the living God, really desires to know the true
and living God, in true faith, if a person really wants to know
God, the living God, and desires to enjoy His presence, and desires
His mercy and His grace, the riches of His love, if a person
really desires to find the favor of God, the fellowship of God,
and forgiveness of sins, then that person will seek the Lord. Just like in any other area of
life, if you want something badly enough, you go after it. You'll
give your time and your effort to attaining that goal. And I'm
saying it's true in this matter of knowing God. If a person really
wants to know God, just as he seeks other things, he'll seek
the Lord. I've had people come to hear me on Sunday morning.
And at the end of the service, they'll manifest some interest.
They'll say, Boy, that was a good message. I really got a blessing
out of that, and I'm troubled about my soul. I really want
to know God." And I say, well, I hope that you'll come again.
Well, Sunday night, they're not there. Wednesday night, they're
not there. The next Sunday, they're not
there. Does that person really want to know God? You say, no,
preacher. If he went about other things that way, he'd never attain
any goal. That's exactly right. If you
want something badly enough, you give your time and your effort
and your strength to finding that thing. Like the woman with
the issue of blood. You remember in the Bible the
woman who had the issue of blood for 12 years? This woman was
sick for 12 long years. And she wasted everything she
had on false physicians. She'd gone to this quack and
that quack and some other quack doctor and none of them were
able to help her. And finally she heard about the
Lord Jesus Christ. And even in her sickly, weakened,
frail, dying condition, she came crawling to Him on her hands
and knees. She pushed her way through the
crowd because she said, If I can but touch His clothes, I'll be
made whole. She wanted Christ and healing
more than anything in this world. Look at blind Bartimaeus. When
our Lord Jesus Christ walked out of the city of Jericho and
he asked, What's the commotion? Someone said, Jesus of Nazareth
is passing by. He began to cry, This man is
blind, sitting in darkness and poverty, destitute, and the only
one who can help him is the Son of God. And he began to cry,
Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy upon me. And people told
him to be quiet. They said, He has no time for
you. He's not interested in you. Just be quiet. He cried out the
more. He would not be denied. He must have Christ. You see what I'm saying? The
Ethiopian eunuch. This man, this wealthy man in
Ethiopia, he was in charge of the queen's entire treasury.
But he wanted to know God. And he took a chariot. This is
not in the days of airplanes and automobiles. He took a chariot
and rode all the way across the desert to get to Jerusalem to
find out something about God. Well, he found nothing out there. He discovered nothing. He learned
nothing. And on his way back to Ethiopia,
he was reading the Word of God, reading the book of Isaiah. And
God sent him a preacher. I tell you, a difficult journey,
but a determined man. There's the key. And then Cornelius,
Lydia, the thief on the cross, the woman who washed his feet.
I could just keep giving you illustrations of people who must
have mercy, who must have the grace of God. And they sought
Him till they found Him. Did not our Lord say, Seek ye
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these
other things will be added to you? Seek ye the Lord while he
may be found. Call on him while he's near.
He said, You seek me and find me when you search for me with
all your heart, and I'll be found of you when you search for me
with all your heart, and I'll turn away your captivity. I'll
make you whole. Now, I'm going to ask two, maybe
three questions in my message today on this subject, what is
it to seek the Lord? Here's the first question, what
is it to seek the Lord? What is it to seek the Lord?
When the scriptures say unto us, seek the Lord, what is it
to seek the Lord? What prompts a person to actually
seek the Lord? What prompts a man? What's involved
in this seeking of the Lord? What's involved? Well, I'll tell
you four things. I'm as confident of this, and
I'm going to give it to you in the very plainest terms, plain
language. Any of you can understand. What
is it to seek the Lord? Number one, it begins right here. To seek the Lord is to discover
that by nature and birth and human wisdom, I do not know the
Lord. That's where a man starts. I
do not know the Lord and I do not have the Lord. You see, a
man doesn't seek what he already has. That'd be foolish when a
man seeks what he wants, what he needs, what he desires, what
he does not have. And I'm saying where this whole
thing, this seeking the Lord, where it begins and where it
has to begin is to discover that I do not have the Lord. I do
not know the Lord. I discovered one day by the Word
of God and through the power of the Holy Spirit and the preaching
of the gospel that I did not know the Lord. You say, I thought
you was raised religious. I was, but I didn't know the
Lord. I had a God, a false God. I had religion. I'd made a profession
of faith. I'd gone to preacher school.
I'd pastored a church three years before I ever heard the gospel,
before I ever knew the living God. Oh, I had a God, just like
the majority of religious people today have a God. Have a form,
have a tradition, have a doctrine, have a God, have a denomination,
but I didn't know the living God. The Word of God tells us
your sins have separated you and your God. When Adam fell
in the Garden of Eden, all men died in Adam. They died spiritually. They were separated from God.
Our sins separated us from God, and no man by nature knows God. That's what the Scripture says.
No man knoweth the Father but the Son, and He to whom the Son
will reveal Him. No man has seen God at any time.
No, sir. You see, God, the invisible God,
dwells in a light to which no man can approach. And this is
where, if you begin here, this is where you must begin. Just
put your religion at the door, put your traditions at the door,
put all these things, leave them at the door, and come knowing
that by nature we do not know God. By nature, by birth, we
do not have God. Our sins have separated us from
God. God is infinitely high and holy,
immaculately holy. And we're sinful creatures. And
that sin is the great gulf between us and Almighty God. We do not
know God. He must be revealed to us. All
right, secondly, what is it to seek the Lord? It's to, first
of all, establish this, face this, we do not by nature know
God. Canst thou by searching find
God? Why, it's higher than the heavens. What can you know? It's
deeper than hell. What can you know? Broader than
the sea, he said. All right, secondly, What is
it to seek the Lord? It is to really desire. I mean
really desire sincerely to know Him, to know the living God,
to be satisfied with nothing short of fellowship with God
Almighty. Now that's got to be established.
We're not just seeking religion. We're not just seeking an experience.
We're not just seeking an emotional feeling. We're not just seeking
the approval of the crowd or the preacher or our family or
people. We want to know God. This is
what the Apostle Paul said, Oh, that I may win Christ and be
found in Him. Oh, that I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection. I'm not seeking the benefits.
I want the benefactor. I'm not seeking the gifts. That's
not what I want. I want the giver. I'm not seeking
the kingdom of God. I'm seeking the King Himself.
And if I have the king himself, then I'm in the kingdom of God.
Like David said, as the thirsty deer panteth for the water brooks,
so panteth my soul after thee, the true and living God. And our Lord in that great high
priestly prayer said, this is eternal life that they might
know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent. Salvation and eternal life is not having the right doctrine.
A man can be doctrinally sound and dead. It's not having the
right morality. The Pharisees were experts in
this regard. It's not just having the right
ceremony on the right day nor the right church. Salvation is
in a right relationship with the Lord God in Christ Jesus,
our Redeemer. Now, this is the truth. What
is it to seek the Lord? Well, it's to start out right,
to discover that by nature, by birth, by sin, I don't know the
Lord. I don't know God. It's like the
blind man to whom the Lord had given his sight. He said, well,
who is he that I might believe on him? Who is he? Saul of Tarsus
on the road to Damascus said, who art thou, Lord? Who are you? It's to admit I don't by nature
know Him, and then it's to really desire to know Him. I must have
Christ. I must know Him. Lord, I'll never
be satisfied till You reveal Yourself. Like Jacob of old,
I will not let You go till You bless me with the knowledge of
Yourself. That's true, my friend. Thirdly, what is it to seek the
Lord? Now watch this carefully. What is it to seek the Lord?
Thirdly, it is to be willing, to be willing. Now that's such
a big word, willing, to be willing. If you be willing, he said, you'll
eat the fat of the land. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of his power. To seek the Lord is to be willing.
to seek Him and be accepted on His terms." Now, come on, on
His terms. I hear these preachers and religious
people dictating the terms. And I'm telling you this, God
owes us nothing but judgment and wrath. Now, that's just so. God owes us nothing but judgment
and wrath. The wages of sin is death, and
we've fully earned it. But He doesn't owe us mercy.
You see, if He owed it, it wouldn't be mercy. God's not obligated
to the creature. God doesn't need the creature.
He said, if I needed anything, I wouldn't ask you. We have sinned. We have challenged God's right
to reign. We did it in the Garden of Eden
and we did it again at Calvary's Cross. We rejected His sovereignty
and His Son. Our hands are dripping with the
blood of God Almighty, whom we crucify. And we're in trouble. And if I come to God, I've got
to come on His terms. I know churches and preachers
all over this world are establishing their own terms, but that's not
to be. We come on God's terms, and to
truly seek the Lord is to be willing to seek Him on His terms. to come to Him on His terms,
to be accepted on His terms. And what are His terms? Well,
they're repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. Those
are God's terms. Paul said that in Acts 20 when
he summed up his ministry. He said, I've gone everywhere
preaching repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. What is repentance toward God?
Well, repentance toward God has to do with the heart, not so
much the hand. Repentance is not taking on a
sour expression or folding your hands piously or walking like
a sissy or something like that. That's not real repentance. Trying
to act religious and talk religious, that's not repentance. Repentance
has to do with the heart. The attitude more than the actions
and the thoughts. God resisteth the proud and gives
grace to the humble. And here's the language of repentance.
I am a sinner. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. I have no righteousness. I have
no goodness in my flesh. In my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. God is holy, and God is just to condemn me. David established
that in his prayer of repentance in Psalm 51. He said, I've sinned
against thee. My sins are ever before me. You're
just and holy to condemn me, and you're just to damn me. And
if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, who would stand? But
there's forgiveness with thee, and in my hands no price I bring. Come on down, To seek the Lord
is to be willing to seek Him and be accepted of Him on His
terms. And His terms are genuine repentance. Christ said, except you repent,
you'll perish. In my hands no price I bring. And then faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, this saving faith is a hard
work also. It has to do with seeing in Christ. You notice Paul said, Repentance
toward God, against God. And faith is toward our Lord
Jesus Christ. And this faith sees in Christ
all that God is, all that God requires, and all that redemption
demands. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were born under the law, that we might receive the
righteousness of God in Him. Christ has suffered for sin,
the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. God has set Him for the propitiation,
a mercy seat, a covering for sin, that He might be just and
justify. In Christ dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and we're complete in Him. He of God has
made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Yes, faith leaves all my tradition at the door and looks to Christ.
Yes, faith leaves all my righteousness at the door and embraces the
righteousness of Christ. Yes, faith leaves all my thoughts. Oh, I thought. I know we do a
lot of that, but our thoughts are not His thoughts. And true
repentance leaves our thoughts at the door and embraces Christ
as our wisdom. My ways, my thoughts comes to
God only in Christ. There's a great old hymn. I don't remember the author.
But it expresses this business of repentance and faith, God's
terms. God's terms. And they don't change.
They're the same. Repentance toward God, genuine
heart repentance. genuine change of attitude and
mind and thoughts, a genuine humility in the dust before the
throne of a holy God. Lord, do with me what you will.
Here, listen to it. The hymn writer said, I'll go
to Jesus, though my sins hath like a mountain rose, and I'll
know his courts, I'll enter in, whatever may oppose. prostrate
I lie before his throne and there my guilt confess I'll tell him
I'll tell him he knows it already but I'll tell him I found it
out I'm a wretch undone without his sovereign grace I can but
perish if I go but I'm resolved to try for if I stay away I must
forever die you have been lost I don't think a man can be found
who's never been lost. Have you ever been a sinner?
Christ died for sinners. You wouldn't be one of those
ungodly people for whom Christ died, would you? Well, I'll tell
you this, to seek the Lord is to seek Him on His terms. And
His terms have ever been and are now and ever will be repentance
toward God and faith toward Jesus Christ. Never a proud sinner
ever entered the kingdom of God because God always humbles him.
That's just so. I don't care if he's a preacher,
a deacon, elder, or what he is. God always breaks the proud sinner,
and he breaks the proud ass's coat, and he puts a saddle on
him, and the king rides him without even a bridle. That's right. All right, fourthly, what is
it to seek the Lord? Well, it's to know we need Him. It's to desire Him above all
things. It's to come on His terms. And
fourthly, it's to be willing to part with all that stands
between me and full fellowship with Him. Now, a lot of folks
run into a lot of problems here. To really seek the Lord is to
be willing to part with anything, anyone. any job, any vocation,
any circle, any tradition that stands between me and full fellowship
with Him. I'm telling you the truth now.
Listen to what He said. If any man would come after Me,
let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. He
that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of
Me. He that putteth his hand to the
plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God. If any
man draw back, my soul has no pleasure in him." These are clear
declarations from the lips of the Son of God. In other words,
what I'm saying is this, and not what I'm saying, it's what
God Almighty has always said. Christ Jesus will be Lord of
all, or He will not be Lord at all. And to know Christ is not
to have a religion on the side. That's what I'm troubled about
my generation. They seem to have the idea that
religion is a sideline. It's kind of something you take
care of on Sunday, or you take care of on special holy holidays,
or something you let your preacher, your church, you pay them to
take care of it for you. You don't ever mix your religion
with your social life or your political life, they tell me.
Hold on here now. Just wait just a minute. Wait
just a minute. Salvation, now that may be religion,
but that's not to know God. To know God is to walk with God.
To know God is to love Him and His Word. To know God is to be
identified 100% with His gospel and with His people. Abraham
believed God and he had to leave home. He had to come out of idolatry. He had to leave his circle of
friends. Abraham believed God and sojourned on this earth looking
for a city, never did own a piece of land. Abraham believed God
and withheld not his only son when God demanded that he sacrifice
him. Abraham believed God's Word that
he was able to do all that he promised and it was imputed to
him for righteousness because he believed God. He didn't talk
like it. He did. He didn't profess it. He did. And this was not written
for Abraham's sake alone, but for ours also, to whom it shall
be imputed if we believe on the Son of God. What is it to seek
the Lord? Well, it's to discover that by
nature, birth, and by religious tradition, I do not know Him. And secondly, it's to really
want to know Him. Him. Not a doctrine to argue,
but to know Him. It's to seek Him on His terms,
and it's to be made willing by the Spirit of God to turn from
my idols, whatever they may be, to serve the living God. Now,
here's the second and final question. How do true seekers seek the
Lord? How do they seek Him? That's what it is to seek Him.
Now, how do they? Well, the Scripture says they
seek Him. They seek Him. You'll seek Me and find Me when
you search for Me with all your heart. And then they seek Him
sincerely with all your heart. Not with a divided heart, with
all your heart. And they seek Him continually.
That's what the Scripture says in 1 Chronicles 16. They seek
His face continually. And then they seek Him in His
Word. They seek Him in His Word, to the law, to the prophets.
Should not a people seek their God if they speak not according
to the Word of God? It's because there's no light
in them. Don't seek God in the clouds. Don't seek God in a feeling. Seek God in the Word. That's
where He's revealed. And they seek Him while He may
be found. That's now. Seek ye the Lord
while He may be found. And then last, They seek Him
with a single purpose. One thing have I desired, and
that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life." Title of the message, What Is
It to Seek God? I have another message on that
same tape I'll be bringing next Lord's Day. Until then, may God
bless you, everyone.

What Is It to Seek the Lord?

What does the Bible say about seeking the Lord?

How do we know God is knowable?

Why is seeking God important for Christians?

How should we seek the Lord according to Scripture?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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What Is It to Seek the Lord?

What does the Bible say about seeking the Lord?

How do we know God is knowable?

Why is seeking God important for Christians?

How should we seek the Lord according to Scripture?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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