Here is my subject today. I'm
going to speak to you on the subject, God is good to them
that seek him. God is good to them that seek
him. Now, if you are accustomed to
following in your Bibles when I speak on this telecast, this
text is found in Lamentations chapter 3, verse 25. Lamentations
3, 25. And that's what the scripture
says. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him. The Lord is
good to the soul that seeketh him. The Lord is good to the
soul that seeketh him. And then over the book of Ezra,
chapter 8, verse 22, the scripture says the hand of the Lord is
upon all them for good that seek him." Now, the word of God has
much to say about seeking the Lord, and remember the major
emphasis when we're talking about seeking the Lord, the major emphasis
is on seeking him, seeking him, not seeking a feeling. Not seeking
an experience. Not even seeking assurance. Not
even seeking correct doctrine. Because there are men who have
doctrine who do not have Christ. There are men who are very orthodox
and fundamental and exact in their theology who do not know
Christ. So the emphasis in this thing
of seeking the Lord is seeking the Lord, seeking him, not a
feeling, not an experience, not a doctrine, not even assurance
that you're saved, because Satan can give you that. But we're
talking about seeking the Lord himself. Now listen to Jeremiah,
chapter 29, verse 13. Jeremiah, writing under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, for holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit and all scripture is God breathed
and Jeremiah says in chapter 29 verse 13 ye shall seek me
and find me when you search for me with all your heart now do
you see the emphasis our Lord said eternal life is to know
God is to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent. It's not to have an experience.
It's not to have religion or even orthodoxy. It's to know
God. So what I'm saying is seeking
the Lord. That's the subject. The Lord is good to them that
seek him. And then Job said this, I know
that my Redeemer liveth. He didn't say I know that I'm
in the right nation or race or religion. He said I know my Redeemer
liveth. And David said, the Lord is my
shepherd, the Lord himself is my shepherd, therefore I shall
not want. And Solomon, in that beautiful
song of Solomon, he said, I have found him whom my soul loveth. I have found him whom my soul
loveth, and I held him and would not let him go. And then the
apostle Paul. And I've often said this on this
telecast and other places. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. Notice, Paul knew when he believed,
he knew what he believed, but that wasn't the emphasis. It's
not, I know when I believed, I know when I was saved, I know
when I had an experience. He said, I know whom I have believed. I know whom. So, I wish there
was some way. I wish I had the vocabulary,
I wish I had the ability to convey to all that hear me that salvation
and eternal life is not in an experience. Salvation and eternal
life is not in the moral law. Salvation and eternal life is
not being in the right church. Salvation in eternal life is
not having orthodoxy and doctrine and theology and even a knowledge
of scripture. But salvation in eternal life
is in the right person. Now all these have their proper
place. The moral law has its proper
place. The church has its proper place.
Baptism, the Lord's Table, ordinances, doctrine, theology, the study
of scripture. But my friend, salvation is a
person. Salvation in eternal life is a person, it's in being
the right person, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, God the Father
has given all things into the hands of his Son. That's where
the Father's put everything. He didn't put it in the church,
he put it in Christ. The Heavenly Father has put everything in
the hands of his divine Son. That's what the scripture says
in Colossians, in him dwelleth, dwelleth. Not there today and
gone tomorrow. dwelleth habitually, continually. In Christ dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you're complete in Christ, who said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the
Father, but by me, he said, if the Son shall make you free,
you shall be free indeed. If the Son make you free, because
he has the authority to set you free. You see, he has all authority
over all flesh to give eternal life to as many as the Father
has given him. And he has all authority in heaven
and earth. And no man knoweth the Father
save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. And
as the Father quickeneth whom he will, even so the Son quickeneth
whom he will. Christ said, Come unto me, all
ye that labour and are heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Rest
is his to give. My peace I give unto you. Peace
is his to give. You see, all things are in him.
And these all things are spiritual blessings in the heavenlies of
mine as a direct result of my union with Christ. Without him,
I can do nothing. Without him, I am nothing. Without
him, I have nothing. But in him and through him and
because of him and for his glory, I have all things. And that union
with him is by faith. So therefore we exhort it again
and again and again in God's word to seek the Lord. Seek the
Lord, to look unto him and be saved. And I emphasize over and
over again it's to seek him, him. The Lord is good to them
that seek him, to those who wait upon him. Now let me show you
several scriptures today which deal with this subject, seeking
the Lord. and the goodness of God extended
to those who seek him. And you determine for yourself
whether you have ever sought the Lord or if you're now seeking
the Lord. You can determine by these scriptures
right here if you are in fact seeking the Lord or if you've
ever sought the Lord. Now here's the first one. It's
found in 1 Chronicles. If you'd like to, take a pencil
and write these scriptures down and go back later and study them.
You know this is what What the book of Acts says about the Bereans,
they were called the noble Bereans. They were more noble than those
in Thessalonica, I believe it said, because they searched the
scriptures to see if these things be so. And that's what I exhort
you to do. Search the scriptures to see
if these things be so. I believe they're so. I believe
they're taught in the word of God. But here are seven scriptures,
six or seven, about those who seek the Lord, and the Lord is
good to them that seek him. First of all, those who seek
the Lord seek him continually. In 1 Chronicles 16, 10, and 11
it says this, Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord,
that seek the Lord continually, continually. Now my friends,
everyone gets religious occasionally. People get religious when somebody
gets sick. You can have an accident on the
highway and somebody's hurt critically and in a coma And the preachers
will all come around the room, and all the relatives will come,
and everybody will start talking religion and get religious, and
the preachers will try to get a profession of faith out of
everybody. Or someone dies and everybody gets religion, or during
Easter everybody gets religion, goes down to the football stadium
before sunup, and Christmas everybody gets religion. Or when trouble
comes in the home or in the family, people get religious and they
call on God. And folks get religious, you
know, occasionally. Everybody starts thinking about
death or heaven or hell or God or something occasionally. And
then some people get religious every Sunday. There are some
people who go to church and fulfill their duties as church members
every Sunday. But those who seek the Lord,
who truly seek the Lord, do so continually. Every day is the
Lord's day. Every event is under his care. They seek the Lord continually.
It's not a spasmodic thing. It's not hot today and cold tomorrow.
Their hearts are set on God. The scripture says they rejoice
evermore. It says they pray without ceasing.
That is, they live in an attitude of communion and fellowship with
God. And then they walk in the Spirit.
And then they walk in the light. This is their walk. When it talks
about your walk, we're talking about your general trend or bent
of the will, trend of life, tenor of your life. That's your walk.
These people who seek the Lord, they seek the Lord continually.
They walk in the light as he is in the light. They have fellowship
one with another. They feed upon his word. Their
relationship with the living God is an unbroken relationship
of trust and rest. And it's not a thing that's hot
and cold and here today and gone tomorrow and on special occasions
or feast days or Sabbath days or this sort of thing. Every
day is the Lord's day. This is the day the Lord has
made. We'll rejoice and be glad therein. So that's the first
thing. People who truly, sincerely seek the Lord. Seek Him continually. And then the second scripture
is found in Psalm 119, verse 2. It says this, blessed are
they that keep his word, and that seek the Lord with the whole
heart. The whole heart. And then Jeremiah
29, I quoted this a few moments ago, it said, you shall seek
me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. So
secondly, those who seek the Lord in truth, seek him in heart. They seek him with the heart.
Now the heart, a lot of people have trouble with this. The heart,
when it talks about the heart in the scriptures, it's not talking
about this organ that pumps blood. That's not the heart. That organ
has nothing more to do with your emotions or spiritual life than
your liver or your lungs or your stomach or any other kidney or
any other organ. I hear people talk about when
the doctor transplanted this artificial heart in this man
or even talked about the heart of a baboon and so forth. Everybody
got upset. What will his love be? What will
his affections be? My friends, the heart is just
an organ that pumps blood. It has a lot to do with the individual's
health. It has a lot to do with his life. But when the scripture talks
about your heart, it's talking about your real self. It's not
talking about that organ. My true thoughts, my true self,
my true affections, my true devotion, that's the heart. When the scripture
says, my son, give me your heart, God's not talking about give
me this organ that pumps blood. He's talking about give me the
real you, your real affections, your real devotion, your very
soul. You know, Peter said to Simon
Magus, when Simon was baptized and then wanted to buy power
to bestow the Holy Ghost upon people. He said, I'll give you
money for this gift. And Peter said, your heart's
not right with God. Didn't mean he had a bad organ,
blood. It means he had a bad attitude,
had a bad spirit. His inner self wasn't right with
God. The scripture says, keep thy
heart, for out of it are the issues of life. It says, as a
man thinketh in his heart, So is he. So what I'm saying is
this, those who seek the Lord, they're not playing a game. This
seeking of the Lord is not a game. It's not a fad. It's not an impulse. It's a heart work. It's what
I want. It's what my soul longeth for,
the living God. Romans 10, 9 and 10 says, If
thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe
in thine heart, in your true self, in your inner being, where
your true affections lie, then you'll be saved if you can believe
in your heart. That's what Philip asked the Ethiopian Union on
the road to Ethiopia. He said, what does hinder me
from being baptized? And Philip said, if you believe
with all your heart, you may. He said, I believe that Jesus
is the Son of God. Now thirdly, those who seek the
Lord seek him in truth. Psalm 145 verse 18 says this,
the Lord is known to them that call upon him to them who seek
him in truth. Now listen to me, don't get upset
and don't get your feelings hurt and don't get offended. But I
know that many people have the idea that it really doesn't matter
what a person believes, as far as religion is concerned, as
far as God and sin and salvation and Jesus Christ and heaven and
hell. It really doesn't matter what a person believes, that's
what they tell me, just so he's sincere. Let's all get together
and resolve our differences because we're all going to the same place,
we're just traveling different roads. Well, my friends, it does
matter what you believe if the Bible is the word of God, and
it is. That's why God has given us his
word. He said, these things are written
that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ and that believing
you might have life in his name. He said in Isaiah, if they speak
not according to the word of God, it's because there's no
light in them. And 1 John 5.20 says this, the
Son of God hath come and hath given us understanding that we
may know him that is true. and that we're in him that is
true, even in his son Jesus Christ, and this is the truth. This is
the true God, and this is eternal life. Let God be true in every
man. Let our faith concerning God
be determined by the word of God. Let our understanding in
regard to sin be determined by the word of God. Let our beliefs
concerning Jesus Christ, who he is, what he did, where he
is now, be determined by the word of God. This is our foundation
of faith. The Bible tells us that God is
holy. Now we're not permitted to change
that. The Bible tells us that God is righteous, that God is
just, that God will by no means clear the guilty. that God is
love. We're not allowed to change that.
The Bible tells us that men are fallen, guilty creatures. They
fell in Adam, as in Adam all died. And we're not allowed to
change that. That we're without hope, without
help, without strength, without God, without Christ in this world.
We're not allowed to change that. If we understand our condition
and our sins, we've got to understand it in the light of the scriptures.
And then the scripture says Jesus Christ came into the world to
save sinners, of whom I am the chief. He came to seek and to
save the lost. We're not allowed to change that.
We're not permitted to alter that. The scripture says by faith
we're justified. By faith we are redeemed. We receive Christ. We look to
Christ. We find rest in him. And he of
God is made unto us all we need, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. It's in him. And he was made
sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. We're not permitted to change
that. It does matter what we believe. It doesn't matter what
a man believes as long as he believes the scriptures. Because
the scriptures are one. They're unbroken, infallible,
consistent. with the scriptures, but those
who seek the Lord seek him in truth. And then fourthly, those
who seek the Lord, now watch this, these who genuinely seek
God, they seek him, they seek him continually, they seek him
with all the heart, they seek him in truth, according to the
word, and they seek him remembering their sins, remembering who they
are and what they are, their unworthiness, their inability,
their uncleanness, That it's mercy that we're seeking, not
justice. That it's grace we're seeking.
We're not seeking a reward, we're seeking grace. Listen to Isaiah
51.1. Ye that seek the Lord, look to
the rock from which you were hewn. Look to the pit from which
you were dug. Remember that. The blind man
whom our Lord healed, somebody asked him, to tell them what
had happened he said I just know I was blind and now I see I know
where I was I know what I was and I know that a man named Jesus
Christ made me whole I know that and I know what I was and you
know what you were fallen guilty sons of Adam unclean like the
lepers of old a blasphemer Paul said I was a blasphemer I was
injurious but I obtained mercy I know what I am now. I am what
I am by the grace of God. I know that I'm a sinner saved
by his grace. I know that in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing, but in my Lord dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead. I know what I shall be. I shall
be satisfied when I awake with his likeness. So those that seek
the Lord, seek him with a consciousness that it's mercy they're seeking.
The publican came and said, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.
The Canaanite woman said, Lord, have mercy upon me. Blind Bartimaeus
said, Jesus, thy son of David, have mercy upon me. I remember
the rock from which I was hewn and the pit from which I was
dug. Yes, sir, we know what we were,
and we know who he is, and we know how he did it, not by our
works, but by his own mercy in Christ Jesus. And then in the
fifth place, those that seek the Lord, Seek him with a single
purpose. A single purpose. And that is
found in Psalm 27 4. Listen to David. One thing. One
thing. That's getting it down pretty
close, isn't it? One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will
I seek after. Wonder what that is. Riches,
honor, glory in the flesh, long life. One thing have I desired
of the Lord, and that will I seek after. Listen to him. that I
may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life
to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple
that's the one single purpose in seeking the Lord his presence
and his glory he said one thing have I desired of the Lord and
that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
in the presence of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold
his beauty and his glory." You know, that's what Abraham looked
for, a city, a city not made with hands, a city eternal in
the heavens. That's what Job was saying, in
my flesh I'm going to see the Lord, I'm going to see the Lord. That's what Paul is saying, I
have a desire to depart, I'm in a strait betwixt the two.
I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far
better. That's what David's talking about
when he said, I'll be satisfied, and only then will I be satisfied,
when I awake with his likeness. A man just can't have two goals,
especially when in opposite directions. A man just can't serve two masters.
Christ said you can't do it. Not two masters. And either God
or man, it cannot be both. Scripture says, set your affections
on things above. Set your affection, that's singular,
on things above, not on the things of this earth. where your treasure
is, there's where your heart will be. Those that seek the
Lord, seek him with a single purpose. This is my objective,
this is my end, this is my goal, to know him, whom to know is
life eternal. And then in the next place, those
that seek the Lord, now listen to this carefully. Those that
seek the Lord, seek him while he may be found. while he may be found over in
Isaiah chapter 55 verse 6 this is what it says seek ye the Lord
while he may be found call ye upon him while he is near wouldn't
you say for me and for you that's right now sort of like Paul wrote
now is the accepted time behold today is the day of salvation
while I still have my faculties While I still have some power
to reason, and reason that's exactly the word I meant to use.
Our God says in Isaiah 1, come let us reason together. Though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though
they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. While I still
have my power to reason, while I still have my faculties, While
I still have an interest in these things, not when old age comes
and I say I have no more interest, I have no more pleasure in these
things. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Now I'm not
talking about, I'm not talking about a cut-off date, I'm not
talking about a deadline, but there's something in the scripture
here, and I want you to turn to Psalm 1, or rather Proverbs
1 verse 24. I'm saying that there is a day
of grace, there's a day of common grace, and there's a day of a
general call, and there's a day when the gospel is heard, there's
a day when God sends his servant, and he preaches, and he opens
the word, and reads the word, and men hear the word, and they
hear the gospel. This is what our Lord Jesus was
talking about the Capernaum. He said, Worn to thee Capernaum,
worn to thee Bethsaida, If the mighty works which are done in
you had been done in Tyre and Satan or Sodom and Gomorrah,
they would have repented. They would have remained to this
day. But mighty works were done and you're going to be responsible
for what you've heard, what you've seen, what you've witnessed. You're going to be responsible.
Listen to Proverbs 1 verse 24. Now listen to it. God says, because
I have called and you have refused. I have stretched out my hand,
and no man regarded. You have set at naught my counsel,
my word, my warnings, and you would none of my reproof, you
wouldn't have my reproof. Therefore, now listen to this,
one day you call on me, and I will not answer. One day ye shall
seek me, and ye shall not find me." Those that seek the Lord. He said the Lord is good to them
who seek him. The Lord is good to all them
that seek him, to those that wait upon him. But they seek
the Lord continually. And they seek the Lord with all
their hearts. And they seek the Lord in truth.
And they seek the Lord remembering their sins, remembering his mercy. upon their sins and they seek
the Lord with a single purpose that they might know him that
Paul said that I might win Christ and be found in him that I might
know him and the power of his resurrection and those who seek
the Lord and find the Lord seek the Lord while he may be found
while he may be found I don't know the gospel may be removed
from you or you may be removed from the gospel or the day may
come when you have no more interest in the Bible, or in the Gospel,
or in the things of God. No more interest in these spiritual
matters, but right now you do, or you wouldn't have tuned into
this broadcast. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he's near,
for the Lord is good unto them that seek him.