Now open your Bibles with me
to the book of Lamentations. Lamentations, the Lamentations
of the prophet Jeremiah. Now you'll recognize immediately
that this is a passage of scripture which I used not so very long
ago in bringing a message on the believer's hope. Lamentations
chapter 3, but tonight I wish to read just two verses. Verse
24 and 25, and my subject this evening is seeking the Lord.
Seeking the Lord. In Lamentations 3, 24, the prophet
wrote, ìThe Lord is my portion, saith my soul. will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that
wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. The Lord is good unto them that
wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. Now it would probably
be an awakening experience for the average preacher and the
average church member to take the time and to take a concordance
and study the many, many scriptures in the Bible which have something
to say about seeking the Lord. Seeking the Lord. There are just
so many of them. Seeking the Lord. That's not
my purpose tonight in this message, to go over some things which
you know to be true and which you've heard hundreds of times.
If I have chosen God, it's because God has chosen me. Do you understand
that? I know that you do. It is not
that I did choose thee for Lord, that could not be. If thou hast
not chosen me, this heart would still refuse thee." Our Lord
said to his disciples, you didn't choose me, I chose you. So that's
determined, that's understood. I don't have to keep saying that
in this message. If you have chosen him, it's
because he chose you. Tis done, the great transaction's
done. I am my Lord's and he is mine. He called me. He called me, and
I followed on, charmed to confess His voice divine." See, that's
what it is. All right. If we love God, it's
because He loved us first. I don't need to continue to say
that. I know that I don't. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that He loved us. He loved us. That's love. Not that we love God. A man would
have to be a fool to stand up tonight before this congregation
and boast of his love for God, wouldn't he? But a man would
be a fool not to stand up and boast of God's love for him.
Thank God he loved me first. I love him because he first loved
me. We rejoice not in ourselves,
we rejoice in the Lord. And then I need not go over this.
If we seek God, it's because he sought us. There's none that
seeketh after God. They're all together become unprofitable. There's none that understandeth,
no, not one. If a man has been given the desire
to seek God, it's because the Lord in mercy dealt with him
in grace. We don't have to keep on saying
that, do we? That's understandable. That if
I do seek him, it's because he sought me, he called me in repentance
and faith. They're not only the gifts of
God, but they are themselves the work of God. It is God that
worketh in you to will and to do his good pleasure. This is
the will of him that sent me, that you believe on him who sent
me. They said, what shall we do to
do the works of God? He said, this is the work of
God, this is the will of God, believe on Christ. And if I believe
on Christ, it's by his grace. To God be the glory. Great things
he hath done. Great things for me and in me
he hath done. Paul said, it pleased God who
separated me from my mother's womb to call me by his grace
and reveal his Son in me. It pleased God to do that. And
then, you know, Jeremiah said in these verses, above verse
24, in verse 21, he said, This I call to remind, therefore have
I hope, it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. I mean
right now. I don't mean it's the Lord's
mercies that we were not consumed, it's the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed. I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore you sons of Jacob right now are not consumed." It's the
Lord's mercies, because his compassions, his affections, his love faileth
not. Mine fails. Oh, yes, yes, my
compassions and affections sometimes are mighty weak, but his never
fail. They're brand new every morning. Oh, great is thy faithfulness. That's understood. So tonight when I'm speaking
about seeking the Lord, I'm not implying by any stretch of the
imagination that any man outside of the Spirit of God has even
the will, let alone the strength, to seek God. I know that But
the thing that I'm dealing with, and the thing that I'm so against,
and the thing that I'm concerned about, and the thing I want to
warn you about, and the thing that the whole religious world
needs to be warned about this evening is that frivolous, that
frivolous, on-the-spot, instant religion that is advocated by
most preachers and evangelists and missionaries and churches
today, come down to the front and accept Jesus as your personal
Savior. Walk this aisle and make your
profession of faith in Christ and your sure for heaven as if
you were already there. That's what I'm against. And
that's what makes me tremble when little children come in
and say, I've been to church, 9, 10, 11 years old, 7, 8, 9
years old, and they showed a horror film. You say, they don't show
horror films in church. They do now. There's one called
The Burning Hell that's a horror film, and it's designed to get
conversion out of, or professions out of boys and girls. It's a
horror film. It shows people burning in hell. And then when
they get through showing it, the preacher gets up and says,
how many of you don't want to go to hell? Well, nobody wants
to go to hell. Well, if you don't want to go
to hell, come down and accept Jesus. And they just flood the
front. They just flood the front. I'm
against that. I'm against that. I'm against
the modern altar call. I'm against it. You can call
it an invitation, you can call it what you want to, but as I
get older and preach a little more and look around and listen
to folks, I'm against any kind of public experience or profession
or decision that a person trusts, looks back to, or leans upon
for a hope of eternal life. I'm against it. If I understand
the scriptures, and there may be people here tonight, I don't
know, that will say, well, I know I'm saved because I was there
when it happened. That's not much assurance. Our assurance is in a person,
not in experience. Our assurance is in the word
of God. Abraham believed that God was able to do all that he
promised. Paul said, Sirs, I believe God
that it shall be as he told me. The foundation of my assurance
is the word of God. And my confidence is not in myself
or my profession or experience, it's in Christ who loved me and
gave himself for me. And I know we're living in a
day of instant pudding and instant jello and instant grits and instant
potatoes and instant coffee and instant everything else, and
the preachers have got us believing in an instant religion. If I understand the Scriptures
right, we have been saved, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. This is the correct
translation, for by grace have you been saved. through faith,
and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. By grace have
you been saved. In this thing of setting us apart
and saving our souls, the Father chose us, the Son assumed the
responsibility of being our surety, came to this earth and gave us
a perfect righteousness, and died under the guilt of our sins,
and the Holy Spirit in time called us, we have been saved. 1 Corinthians
1.18 says, to them who are being saved, who are being saved, the
cross is the power of God, the power of God. to put away transgressions,
the power of God to make us acceptable, the power of God to justify us
before the law of God and the righteousness of God, the power
of God to give us a new heart and a new life, the power of
God to raise our vile bodies, the power of God to make them
like His glorious body, the power of God to keep us from falling. The cross is the power of God
and the wisdom of God to them who are being saved. And then Romans 13, 11 says,
now is our salvation nearer than when we believe? Those who do
not continue to repent never did repent. If I understand the
Scriptures, those who do not continue to believe never did
savingly believe. Those who do not continue to
seek the Lord have no reason whatsoever to believe that they
are children of God. I'm as convinced of that as I'm
standing here before you. There are just too many scriptures
that teach that. Whose house we are if we hold
fast the profession of our faith firm unto the end. He hath saved us, Colossians
1 said, delivered us. made us holy and unblameable
if we continue in the faith, in the gospel, grounded and settled
and be not moved away from that gospel. John said, oh, he said
they left us. And John wasn't talking about
people leaving a building or leaving an organization or leaving
a local assembly. That's not it at all. They went
out from us. He's not talking about somebody
that didn't any longer fellowship with that group. There's more
than one church and more than one pastor. God's got more than
one under shepherd. But John says they went out from
us, from identification with us, from the gospel which is
of us. He said they'd been of us. They
no doubt would have stayed with us. Oh, yeah. Perseverance. Perseverance in
repentance toward God. Perseverance in the faith of
our Lord Jesus Christ is the strongest evidence that a man's
a child of God. Barnard understood this. He believed
this. Oh, dear old brother Barnard,
warrior, called himself a one-gallus, hitchhiking evangelist, but he
knew something. He knew something. He'd met the
living God. He knew some gospel. And people
would say to him, well, Brother Barney, you think I'm saved?
He'd just pause a minute and he'd say, well, why don't you
look me up in 30 years? And we'll see. We'll see. We'll
see. It's not the fellow that starts
out the race that is crowned. It's not the fellow that's leading
around the quarter pole or the halfway mark. It's the fellow
that walks across the line. He's crowned. And he's the only
one. He's the only one. And few people,
I do believe in this day, in this day, and all of us have
gone through this thing, that few people have even the slightest
understanding of what it is to seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. What it is, as Paul said in giving
those evidences of the election of grace, those marks of the
elect in 1 Thessalonians, you became followers of the Lord. Followers of the Lord. Christ
said you cannot be my disciples. What's that? That's a learner.
Not a master. That's a learner. I'm a learner. I'm a follower of Christ. I'm
a disciple of Christ. I'm a learner of Christ. Paul said, I travail, talking
to this church, till Christ be formed in you. Don't you think
we're saved? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I do. You're being
saved. But Christ needs to be formed
in you. Not something you walk by the
shelf and take salvation and put in your pocket and carry
on down the road and forget about it. This is a pursuit of God. This is seeking the Lord. This
is becoming a follower of the Lord. Turn to Mark chapter 8
and listen to these verses here. Mark the 8th chapter. And I'll
tell you, I believe so strongly in what I'm teaching here tonight,
I'd like to have the ear of the whole nation. I'd like to have
the ear of every, of every, especially every religious person. That'd
be the whole nation. about everybody I know has got
some kind of religion, some form or shape. In Mark 8, verse 34,
and when he had called the people, the master here, when he had
called the people unto him with his disciples, also he said to
them, Whosoever will, come after me. Let him deny himself. Let him deny himself. Take up
his cross and follow me." That denying himself, that's not just
keeping Sunday and not wearing makeup and not doing some of these rules
and regulations we have. That's self-denial. That's denying
his own righteousness, denying his own ambitions, denying his
own plans and tearing up his blueprints. his own worldly goals, denied
himself, and take up his cross, cross as a symbol of death, and
follow me, and follow me. Not just say, I know him, I believe
in him, I accept him, but I've got other chickens to fool with.
Yeah, Jesus, glad you came. Believe in you. Sure do. See you in heaven." No. Whosoever, he said, will come
after me. He's going to deny himself. He's
going to tear up those blueprints and say, I've got a new lord.
I've got a new master. He's the king. No man has two
masters. A man can have two or three saviors,
but he can't have two masters. Barney used to say, I know who
your savior is. Who's your lord? Oh, oh, oh,
that's different. It sure is different. Deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever shall save
his life, that is, whosoever shall preserve his desires, who
shall preserve his ambitions, who shall preserve his goals,
who shall preserve his will and his way. for the sake of the flesh, that's
his natural life, he'll lose it. But whosoever shall abandon
his life, whosoever shall surrender, I surrender. Whosoever shall
say, Lord, not my will, but thy will be done, whosoever shall
lose his life for my sake now, this is not for martyrdom. This
is not for honor and personal glory. This is not for somebody
to say, well, he sure gave up a lot for Jesus, didn't he? No,
that's not what it's for. It's for his sake. It's for his
sake, finding his will, finding his way, finding his direction,
finding his glory, and doing that same will save his life.
But what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world?
What shall it profit him if he gains his goal? What shall it
profit him if he accomplishes his mission? What shall it profit
him if he does preserve his own way of life and his own will?
It's all going to be destroyed because he loses his soul. This
is what I'm talking about. Old Ezra wrote these words, the
hand of the Lord is upon all them for good. That's seeking. And our Lord Jesus Christ said
this, he said, don't be so concerned. And I know that, I know when
I say things like this, people say, well, you're a preacher
and the church takes care of you and the church is responsible
for you and these things. You don't know what it is to
get out here and fight in all these armies. But nevertheless,
whatever I know, this is the Word of God. The Master said,
don't take so much anxious thought for what you're going to eat,
drink, and wear. You know what he said? That's what he said. Don't spend your life and your
time and your anxious care only for the things of this world.
Man shall not live by bread alone. He'll not live by the honor of
the flesh alone. The fashion of this world fadeth
away as using this world and not abusing this world. Seek
ye first the kingdom of God, first! First! And that means first today and
first tomorrow and first Saturday and first Sunday, doesn't it?
That doesn't mean come down here and say, well, I'm going to seek
it first. It doesn't mean going back to business. That means
when I get up tomorrow, I'm seeking the kingdom of God. When I come
Monday, I'm still seeking the kingdom of God. I've settled
the thing. I'm seeking. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God. This, you know, I don't understand a lot of these old
writers, but my heart beats with them. John Newton, who wrote
Amazing Grace, wrote this, "'Tis a point I long to know. Oft it
gives me anxious thought. Do I," and what he's asking,
"'Do I really love the Lord or no? Am I really His or am I not?'
If I love the Lord, why am I thus? Why this dull and lifeless frame? Hardly sure can they be worse
who never heard his name. Could my heart so hard remain
and prayer a task and burden prove, and every trifle give
me pain, if I knew the Savior's love? When I turn my eyes within,
all is dark and vain and wild. filled with unbelief and sin,
can I call myself his child? If I pray or hear or read, sin
is mixed with all I do, you that love the Lord indeed. Tell me,
is it that way with you? That's what he asked. That don't
sound like one of them professions of faith, does it? That doesn't
sound like one of those cocky, presumptuous, 1984 fundamentalist
Christians that got the world by the tail on the shady side
on a downhill pull and got the battle all won. This is John
Newton. This happens to be a man who
knew God. I mourn my stubborn will. I find my sin a grief and thrall. Would I grieve for what I feel
if I didn't love him at all? Could I joy his saints to meet,
choose the way that I once abhorred, find at times the promise sweet
if I really didn't love the Lord? Lord, decide my doubtful case. Thou who art the people's son.
shine upon this work of grace, if it be indeed begun, and let
me love thee more and more, more and more. That's seeking the
Lord. If I love at all, I pray. I'm not going to boast about
it. But if I have not loved you before,
help me to begin today. Would you dare say that? Would
you dare? I say it. I dare say it. I feel it so deeply. What is
it to seek the Lord? What is it to seek the Lord?
Let's ask myself the question, did I ever really seek the Lord? Oh, I sought the gifts, but I'm
not talking about the giver. Oh, I sought assurance. No, I'm
talking about the Lord. Did I ever really seek him? What
is it to seek the Lord? Am I now seeking the Lord? Well,
let me give you six things, and you may jot these down if you
would like and write down the scriptures, because I think they
are vital. Six things. Number one, those
who truly seek the Lord, seek him continually, continually. Now let me read you that in 1
Chronicles 16. If you care to jot that scripture
down or turn over there, you may do so. But 1 Chronicles 16,
I'm telling you the truth now. They who seek the Lord truly,
seek him continually. It says here in 1 Chronicles
16.10, Glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice
that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord in his strength.
Seek his face. How? Continually. Now, my friends, everyone gets
religion at times. Now, I'm going to say what I
really sincerely believe in my heart. Everyone gets religious at times.
People get real religious at funerals. I've preached a lot
of funerals. And everybody gets religious
when somebody dies. People get religious at weddings.
People get religious at Christmas. They do. They get drunk too,
but they get religious. And Easter. Easter. I've never participated in one
of these Easter sunrise services, but See people getting up in
the wee hours and going out there and peeking at the sun when it
comes up, you know, on Easter Sunday. And the choir's got their
little uniforms on there already. As soon as the sun peeps, they
start singing, you know, whooping it up. Get real religious. Some
people get religious every Sunday. Every Sunday morning they go
to church. They go to church and put their money in and read
their Sunday school lesson and go through the day. They have
guests for lunch and they talk religion on Sunday and read the
Bible on Sunday afternoon, fulfill their duties as church members
and get real religious. But people who seek the Lord
seek him continually. Every day is the Lord's day. This is the day. This is Wednesday. Tomorrow is Thursday. Tomorrow
will be the Lord's day, John, all day long. This is the day
the Lord hath made. You can say that every morning,
Mike, when you wake up, and we'll rejoice and be glad in it. He
said in everything give thanks. Everything. Not only is every
day the Lord's day, but every event of every day is under his
direction and care. Every event. All things work
together for good to them who love God. Not just what happens
Christmas, not just what happens Easter, what happens on Sunday,
but every day is the Lord's day, and every event is under his
care. Every relationship is affected
by my love for him. Every relationship. Every relationship. There was a fellow by the name
of Caleb. His mama named him Caleb, C-A-L-E-B. You know what it means? You know,
don't you? It means faithful dog. Dog. Why in the world she
named him that? That's a good name. Because when
the Lord spoke of Caleb, every time he mentioned Caleb, he mentioned
him this way. He followed me fully. Not spasmodically. Not during revival times. not
during Bible conference time, not just on Sunday, Christmas
or Easter. He followed me fully, like a
little dog, a little dog at the feet of his master, who was always
following him fully, every day. We sing it every hour of every
day. Huh? Do we mean that? And every
moment in every way. I'm leaning on Jesus. That's
what I'm not on. Every hour of every day. And
you're not seeking the Lord unless you're seeking Him continually.
Secondly, they who seek the Lord seek Him with the whole heart.
The whole heart. Turn to Jeremiah 29. Jeremiah
29, verse 13. Jeremiah 29, 13. Now watch this. And ye shall seek me. Now I tried
to make this clear a while ago, and there's no use repeating
it, but I'm going to for the sake of someone who might have
missed it. I'm not talking about seeking a religion or an experience
or the right church or the right baptism. Ron, I'm talking about
seeking the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. Seeking Him. You shall seek me and find me
when you search for me. with all your heart. Not a divided
heart. If we're going to play games,
we'd be smart to play something else. That's right. Don't play religion. Don't play
with God. Don't play with God. Don't come to Him with a divide. This is your part, God. This
is mine. You ain't got no part. It's His. Everything's His. You're
His. We don't bargain with God. Don't
ever try to drive a bargain with God. Don't ever, ever make the
mistake when you're by the bedside of your sick child of bargaining
with God. Don't do it, I warn you. Don't
say, Lord, if you'll make little Johnny well, I'll do something.
God doesn't bargain with men. There are no terms with God. Yes, surrender, those are his
terms. Unconditional, absolute, give
it up, lay down your arm, stack your arm, surrender! That's the
only language he taught, surrender. Now my friends, the heart is
not, we've got a lot of superstitions about this organ. I got to thinking
about this the other day when I read about that baby, baby
Faye, baby Ray, baby May, or something like that, in which
they put the baboon's heart. And people all upset. Some preachers
are making some real hay day out of this thing. We got this thing all messed
up. This organ over here is just
what it is. It's an organ that pumps blood.
And we got these hearts, you know, where the air is through
them. I love you with all my heart, where the air is through
it. That's not it. And the scripture talks about heart. It's not talking
about that organ. You object to them putting that
baboon heart, no more a baboon liver or a baboon kidney. Life is not
in that heart there. If your kidney stops, you're
going to die. If your lungs stop, you're going
to die. If your liver stops, you're going to die. And the
heart, that's just an organ. It pumps blood. Let them operate
on it, put valves in it, bypass it, do what they want to. It
ain't going to make you love God anymore. Because that's not
where you love God. They put that transplant. Some
fella got a heart transplant and his wife asked the doctor,
will he still love me? If he ever did. That's like a
friend of mine had his hand operated on. He had that, you remember
he had that where his fingers grew like that. And he went to
the doctor, and the doctor said, I can operate on that. Well,
he said, will I be able to play the guitar? And the doctor said,
well, yeah. He said, well, that's good. I
always wanted to play the guitar. Never could play it before. But
the heart, listen to me, my son, give me your heart. keep your
heart out of any of the issues of life. Peter said to Simon, your heart
is not right with God. What was he talking about? He
was talking about the real him. He was talking about his affection,
his affection. He was talking about his real
devotion. He was talking about the spirit
of the man. There are a lot of people, there
are a lot of people who got the right, who have the right doctrine
who don't have the right attitude, you can have doctrine in your
mind. Attitudes are hard work. That's where repentance and salvation
takes place, not in the mind. You say, well, I believe these
things about the Lord. Let me show you a scripture.
You want to turn to Luke 4? Now, let me show you something
here. This is a startling passage of
scripture, Luke 4. This easy believism dies right
here. Doctrinal salvation dies right
here. People who profess to be saved
because they believe some facts, they die right here. Luke chapter
4, listen to it, listen to it, verse 33, Luke 4, 33. And in the synagogue there was
a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil and cried out with
a loud voice, saying, Leave us alone." That's the demon speaking.
What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou
come to destroy us? I know who you are. You're the
Holy One of God. I know. You're the Christ. You're
the Messiah. They knew mentally some facts
they knew and understood. They gave mental agreement to
some facts about the person of Jesus Christ, but they didn't
love those facts. They knew he was the Holy One
of God, but they weren't glad. They knew he was the only Messiah,
but they didn't rejoice. They knew he was the Holy One,
scent of God, but they didn't adore him and bow before him
and worship him as such. And that's where it is, that's
the heart work. The heart, that's the devotion, that's the affection,
that's the real me, that's my love, you see. If thou shalt
confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord and believe in thine
inner self, innermost self. This is what I believe. I can't
speak for anybody else. This is, Martin Luther said,
where I stand. I can't speak for you or even
my wife or my sons or daughter. I can't speak for them. But I
can speak for me. I'm glad he's Lord. I'm glad
he's Lord. I want him to be Lord. I ascribe
to that truth that he is Lord. That's it. You see, the heart
denotes sincerity. Christ said, you call me Lord
with your lips, but you're not with me. Your heart's not with
me. That's what you're not with me.
Your lips are, but you're not. You're somewhere else. And the
heart reveals a personal faith, not a traditional faith. Saul
had a traditional faith. He said, I was a Hebrew and a
Pharisee and born this and born that and did this. Hand me down
religion. But then he came to a personal,
oh, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, that
I may win Christ, whatever the Jews do. A heart denotes affection,
contrary to covetousness. It's not a material relationship. Job said, though he slay me,
I'll trust him. Most of us, our faith goes well
when everything else goes well. as long as God's blessing them
on his side. But what did I do to deserve
this? Huh? That's different. And then heart
speaks of approval, not just knowledge. And thirdly, let me
give you this, those who seek the Lord seek him in truth. Psalm
145, I hear people say, well, it really doesn't matter what
you believe, just so you're sincere. You don't think that, do you?
It does matter what a man believes. The scripture says, Psalm 145,
the scripture says, you shall know the truth and the truth
shall make you free. They that worship God worship
him in spirit and truth. There's some truth about God,
there's a truth about men, there's some truth about Christ, there's
some truth, somebody is preaching the truth. And the only, the
only rule of measurement we have is the scriptures. They speak
not according to the scriptures. Psalm 145, verse 18, listen.
The Lord is known to them, all them, that call upon him, to
all that call upon him in truth. That's different. This is the
way we want it to read. The Lord is known to all that
call upon him in truth. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth. Fourthly, I'll move along quickly. Those who seek the Lord
seek Him remembering their sins. They never forget them. Look
at Isaiah 51. I love this scripture here. Don't
ever lose sight of this truth. I know you won't. I know you
don't. I know you can't if you know God and know Christ. But
Isaiah 51 verse 1, listen to this, hearken to me. Ye that follow after righteousness,
ye that seek the Lord, listen to me, ye that seek the Lord,
look unto the rock whence you are hewn, and to the hole of
the pit whence you are digged. Don't ever get too far away from
that hole that you can't see it, that you can't remember it. Remember! Remember the hole from which
you were digged, the rock from which you were hewn, the dunghill
from which you were lifted. I read a story one time, this
is neither here nor there probably, but I read a story one time,
I recall it, it was interesting. There was a man who attained
great fame and wealth and honor, great wealth, built a huge But he kept a room in his house
completely furnished like the little parlor of the home of
his mother and father where he was raised. There was a wooden
floor, peg floor, with a fireplace and an old rug that she had made
out of scraps and a rocker and a little table and a coal oil
lamp. And every once in a while he'd
go in there and sit in that rocker and remember where he came from. That wouldn't be too bad, would
it? Remember where he came from, remember what he was. And that's
what Isaiah is saying here, ye that follow after righteousness
and seek the Lord, don't forget where he found you. Don't forget
where he found you. He said, we were followed the
lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye and the pride of life,
but God. who is rich in mercy for his
great love wherewith he loveth. All right, number five, they
that seek the Lord, seek him with a single purpose, Psalm
27. I don't want to move so quickly that the point doesn't sink in,
but listen to this, Psalm 27 forward. One thing, one thing,
this is David, one thing have I desired of the Lord and
that will I seek after. one thing, that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life, one thing, to behold the
beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple." You can't get
sidetracked too much if you've got one thing on mind. So they
that seek the Lord do so with a single purpose. They've taken stock and they've
added this thing up. They've had some time to consider
all things, and they've come to this conclusion, one thing,
have I desired of the Lord, and that's what I'm seeking after.
I've got my bags packed, that I may dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life. And everything else will just
have to do what it will. And then last of all, Isaiah
55. It says in Isaiah 55 6, Seek
ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he's near.
They that seek the Lord, seek him while he may be found. Brother
Mann, you believe in deadlines? Yeah, man have to believe in
deadlines. You have to. There's a time There's
a time to be born, a time to die, isn't that a deadline? Man's
bounds are set, God said. Isn't that what he said? He said
the number of his months are with thee, his bounds that are
set. They that being often reproved
and hardened at their necks shall... deadline. God says their foot
shall slide, deadline, due time. There's a time and a place and
an hour. When you won't hear another sermon,
you won't hear another scripture reading, you won't have any interest
in the gospel, any interest in Christ or anything else spiritual,
that's right, there's a deadline. He said you fill up the cup,
it's full and that's over. And so I'd say, while he may
be found, I think about Blind Bartimaeus who was sitting there
by the wayside and they said Jesus of Nazareth is passing
by. Well, brother, I'm telling you, he began to call right then.
Right then. Jesus, our son of David, have
mercy on me.