Before I bring the message this
morning, I would like to make an announcement. The Lord willing,
I'll be speaking Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week.
That's April the 27th through the 30th in the courthouse in
Paintsville, Kentucky. Now, that's every night at 730.
I'll be speaking in Paintsville, Kentucky at the courthouse downtown. April the 27th through the 30th,
that's Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I'd like for you
to come, invite someone, bring your family, your friends, and
come to the courthouse in Paintsville, Kentucky, where I'll be speaking
Tuesday through Friday this coming week. My subject this morning
is entitled, To Seek is to Find. Now, if you jump to conclusions,
you'll immediately say, well, he's going to preach on, seek
and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.
But that's not, that's not the subject there. I'm going to talk
about something that's very vital, very personal, very important,
and I think you need to hear it. And our text will be taken
from the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 29, verses 12 through
14. I want you to hear this message.
There's a good possibility it'll clear up some things, it'll answer
some questions. At least it'll provoke you to
thought. I hope not just provoke you, but provoke you to thought.
Jeremiah 29, 12 through 14, Then, God said, Then shall you call
upon Me, and you shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken
to you, and you shall seek Me and find Me, When you search
for me, when you shall search for me with all your heart, and
I will be found of you, saith the Lord." Now, what's this all
about? Well, Israel was down in Babylon
in captivity, and the Lord God sent a message to Israel by the
prophets. And this is part of the message.
This is part of the directions that he gave to Israel by his
servant. Back up above that, God said
to them, I know my thoughts toward you. This is back there in verse
10 and 11. He said, I know my thoughts toward you, speaking
to Israel by his prophet. My thoughts toward you are thoughts
of peace, not of evil. I'll visit you, he said. I'll
deliver you. I'll perform good toward you.
However, however, You will remain in Babylon for 70 years. The
time of deliverance has not come. The fullness of time has not
come. God's day of deliverance and salvation for you has not
come. You're going to stay in Babylon
for 70 years. And you're going to marry and
you're going to have children, raise families. You're going to stay
in Babylon for 70 years. And then at my appointed time,
I will deliver you. I will be merciful to you. I
will bring you out of captivity and I'll return you to your land.
I will do that. But he said, then, then you will
call on me. Then you will pray unto me. Then you will seek me and find
me when you search for me with all your hearts. Now let me build
a case here. First of all, I know this. These
truths are undeniable. Number one, all spiritual blessings
begin with God. They don't begin with men. They
begin with God. All spiritual blessings. He said,
I know my thoughts toward you. Now, I know your thoughts toward
me, too. Your thoughts are thoughts of
hatred and rebellion and enmity. The natural mind is enmity against
God. I know your thoughts toward me,
but I know my thoughts toward you. My thoughts toward you,
God said, are peace. My thoughts toward you are good,
not evil. I will be merciful to you. I'll
give you peace and not evil. Herein is love. Not that we love
God. He loved us. We love him because he first
loved us. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but have everlasting life. So all spiritual blessings
begin with God. God's the fountain of mercy.
God's the source of grace. It all begins with Him. God is
love. We're hate. God is light. We're
darkness. God is truth. We're lies. God
is good. We're evil. God is light. We're
death. It all proceeds from Him. So I know that to be a fact.
Secondly, all spiritual blessings come to us from God freely. We don't pay for it. We don't
earn it. God said, I will visit you. I will bless you. I will come to you. In Romans
3, 24, Paul said, we're freely justified by His grace. The wages
of sin is death. Yes, we've earned those wages.
We deserve those wages. They're ours by merit. But the
gift of God is eternal life to everyone that believeth. The
gift of God in our Lord Jesus Christ. That's all spiritual
blessings are from God. They originate with God. And
they come to us freely. Freely. And thirdly, all of them
are in Jesus Christ. Let me ask you a question. Why
do so many serious and sincere people seek and never find God? Now, you think about that. Why
do so many, I believe, sincere, serious, religious, moral people
seek God and never find Him? I'll tell you why. They seek
Him in the wrong place. God's in Christ. There's no way
for you to have any kind of relationship with God except in Christ. No
man cometh to the Father but by me. That's what Christ said.
There's no way that you can have any knowledge of God apart from
Christ. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him. That's just
so. There's nothing deep or confusing about that. That's just the truth.
This is the record God hath given us eternal life. This life's
in His Son. He that hath the Son of God hath
life. He that hath not the Son of God shall never see light."
Everything God has for sinners is in Christ. It pleased God
that in Christ should all fullness dwell, and you're complete in
Him. I know these things to be true.
And if you'll read the Scriptures, and if your preachers will read
the Scriptures, and if you'll teach the Word of God, you'll
also see that they're true. Almost natural understanding
tells you the truth, that anything good must come from God, because
man's not good, God is good. And anything that comes from
God to man has to come freely, because we don't have anything
to contribute to God. God's independent without us.
How can the creature contribute anything to the Creator? He made
all things. He made us. He made everything
we eat and drink and wear. And enjoy. What can we add to
Him? It's all His. God said, if I
was hungry, I wouldn't ask you. If I was thirsty, I wouldn't
ask you. The cattle on a thousand hills
are mine. And all that God gives to us
is in Christ, the only perfect man, God-man. And fourthly, now you listen
to this. This is the foundation of what I'm preaching. God said
to Israel, He said, you're in captivity. You're going to stay
there 70 years. There's a day appointed when
I'll deliver you. I plan to deliver you. I know my thoughts toward
you, thoughts of kindness, peace, not evil. I'll deliver you. But
you'll call on me, and you'll pray to me, and you'll beg for
deliverance, and you'll seek me. Now, here's the fourth thing
that I know. Those who are given to Christ
by the Father, and there's no need to deny that, The Lord Jesus,
six times in John 17, says, those that the Father gave me. In John
6, 37, He said, all that the Father giveth to me shall come
to me. This is the will of Him that sent me, that of all which
He has given me, I'll lose nothing but raise it up to the last day.
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. He's given
us to Christ. We know that's so. Those who
are redeemed by His blood, and we know that's the only way sinners
are redeemed, by the blood of Christ, not by corruptible things
such as silver and gold. We know the only way that sinners
are forgiven is in the blood of Christ. God said, I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. Not by works of righteousness
which we've done, but according to his mercy he has saved us. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh be justified. Other foundations can no man
lay than that which he laid Christ. I am the door, by me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved. Go in and out and find pasture.
You see, that's clear in the scripture. But what I'm saying
is this. Those who have been given to
Christ and those who have been redeemed by Christ will truly
seek Christ. They'll pray unto Christ, they'll
seek Him, they'll cry unto Him with all their hearts. This is
what God says to Israel, I know my thoughts toward you, I know
what I purpose to do for you, I know what I plan to do for
you through the surety, I will bless you, I will deliver you,
I will bring you out, deliverance will be free, but you are going
to seek me. You're going to cry unto me with
all your heart. You're going to call unto me.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
If a man never calls on the name of the Lord, he'll never be saved.
That's true. Mark 16, 15, our Lord told the
disciples to go and preach the gospel to every creature. He
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. No man will ever be saved who
does not call on Christ. Now, man's not saved by praying.
He's saved by Christ. But no man's ever prayed. No
man's ever been saved who didn't pray. That's just so. No man's ever been saved by his
calling on God. He's saved by the death of his
son. But no man's ever been saved who does not call on God. That's
just so. Well, some fella says, well,
I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll just sit in my rocking chair
and fold my arms. If God will come, He will come.
If God will bless, He will bless. If God will save, he will save.
If God will love me, he'll love me. That man will be left in
darkness. He'll be left in sin and confusion. He'll be left to face the judgment
of God on his own. Here's what God is saying to
Israel. Yes, I will come. I will come to you, but you'll
come to me. Listen to this verse. All that
my Father giveth me shall come to me. and him that cometh out
in no wise cast out." Yes, he'll come to you. No question about
that. But you'll come to him. You'll
come to him. Yes, he will call on you, but
you'll call on him also, whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved. Yes, he will teach you. They'll all be
taught of God, but every man that hath heard and learned of
the Father, he cometh to me. God will teach, but you'll learn
it. Yes, sir. God will. God will love you,
but you'll love Him, too. It says, If any man love not
our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed when the Lord comes.
That's so. Yes, He knows you. He said, I
know my sheep, but I'm known of mine. I know my sheep. Other sheep I have which are
not of this fold. Them I must bring, and they shall be one
shepherd. and one foe. You'll know Him.
This is eternal life, that they might know Thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. Let me tell you something.
No man will ever find God who does not seek God. And no man
will ever seek God who does not need God. And no man will ever
need God until he's awakened by the Holy Spirit and has that
need revealed to his heart. But that will be done. The Holy
Spirit will regenerate and quicken that sinner and break his heart
and strip him and knock his foundations out from under him and he'll
realize his need of Christ, he'll realize that all others fail
and he'll look to Christ and he'll call for mercy and cry
for grace and seek the Lord with all his heart. That's so, my
friend. You say, how is that consistent
with sovereignty and how is that consistent with responsibility?
I don't know how it is, I just know it's consistent with the
Word of God. I'm not trying to be consistent with myself or
you or Baptist doctrine or anybody else's doctrine. I'm trying to
tell you what God says. He came to Israel and He said,
I've got good thoughts toward you. I know your thoughts toward
me are not good, but I've got good thoughts toward you. peace
and not evil. I'll deliver you. That's my purpose
and plan. I'm going to set you free. You're
my people. I'm going to bring you out of
captivity and take you back to your glory. But you'll call on
me. You'll crown me. You'll seek
me. And when you do, you'll find me. I hold these truths to be
clear from the Word of God. The Lord God in His covenant
mercy has purpose to have a people like Christ. Secondly, the Lord
God has chosen those people out of all humanity, out of every
tribe, kindred, nation, tongue, and people under heaven, and
given them to Christ, and made Christ their surety, their representative,
their federal head. The Lord Jesus came to this earth
in human flesh, and as a man, he obeyed the law. He was tempted,
tried, and tested, as we are yet without seeing. He fulfilled
and imputed to us a perfect righteousness as his people. He went to the
cross and there he bore God's wrath in our state. He was wounded
for our transgressions by his stripes were healed. The Holy
Spirit comes in due time to regenerate, to quicken, to awaken, to bring
forth the dead from spiritual graves and call them to faith
in Jesus Christ. But every one of these people
whom God has purposed to save, whom Christ hath redeemed, and
whom the Holy Spirit calls, they will cry for mercy, they'll cry
unto the Lord out of their trouble, they'll cry unto the Lord from
their graves, they'll cry unto the Lord from their distress,
and they'll seek Him with all their hearts. And when they do,
they'll be saved, and they'll be found with Him. It's a sure
sign. Let me tell you something. And let this ring loud and clear.
It's a sure sign that a man is not one of God's own who does
not seek the Lord. That's a sure sign. Not a doubt
about it. That's a clear sign. That's a
clear evidence a man does not belong to God. He is not one
of God's elect. He is not one of Christ's people.
He's not an object of God's affection if he never seeks the Lord. But
it's a mighty good sign that a man belongs to God if he seeks
the Lord. It's a mighty good sign. If he
cries for grace, if like the publican in the temple, he cries,
Lord, be merciful on this sinner. If like the thief on the cross,
at some time in his life, with sincerity of purpose and heart,
he cries, Lord, remember me. Like the woman with issue of
blood who crawled on her hands and knees, saying in her heart,
if I can just get to Christ. Like Bartimaeus of old who couldn't
see the sun, who was blind from birth, but reached out with those
arms and cried from his sightless position, Jesus, Son of David,
have mercy on me. You reckon he'd ever been healed
if he hadn't called? Reckon the thief on the cross
ever been saved if he hadn't called? Reckon the public in
the temple had ever been saved if he hadn't called? I'll tell
you, no, sir. No, sir. You say, but they will
call. That's all right. They will call. Have you called? Well, no, I
haven't. Then are you one of his own?
If you were blind like Bartimaeus, you'd call. If you were dying
like the woman with the issue of blood, you'd call. If you
were in your eleventh hour like the thief, you'd call. But you've
never been in distress. That's what God said to Israel.
You'll call out of your distress. If God brings your heart down
to labor and brings you down low enough in despair and sin,
you'll call. You'll call. Let me show you
something, three or four things, as we close. First of all, he
said, you will seek me and find me. And my friends, it'll help
us to stop with each word. First of all, he said, you will
seek me. You will. Now, it's not, let's
all go to Christ. Let's all of us get together
now and form an army and attack the throne of heaven. No, sir.
This thing of salvation is a personal matter. I'm not saying you accept
Jesus as your personal Savior. I'm saying you bow to the Lord
of glory. You bow to the Savior of sinners.
You bow to the Redeemer of rebels. You bow down. Whatever He does
with you, whether He saves you or damages you, He's still Lord.
Whether He has mercy on you or passes you by, He's still Lord.
He's going to be Lord whether you reign with Him or whether
He reigns without you. But I'm talking about this. You
will seek Him. You will. It's not mama and daddy
and all the kids, it's you. You were with the heart, man,
believe us, with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Peter,
do you love me? The other disciples were sitting
over there by themselves. He had Peter isolated, and he
leveled his finger between his eyes, and he looked straight
into his soul, and he said, Peter, do you love me? And that's what
I'm asking you. Do you love Christ? You. You. You shall. I love the shalls
and musts and wills of God's Word. God doesn't say they might.
They ought to. They could, perhaps. They shall. You shall seek me. Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. O the sheep I have
which another has foaled, them also I must bring. And they shall
hear my voice, and they shall be onefold. I like that. Almighty
God declares His purpose from the beginning. He said, I declare
the end from the beginning and from ancient times of things
that are not yet done. You shall seek. Seek. How does a man seek God? Where does a man seek God? Well,
I told you a while ago, the only place to seek God is where God
is, where He's revealed, where He's manifested, where He's vested
Himself, His presence, back in the Old Testament days. In the
wilderness, the place to seek God is in the tabernacle. That's
where God dwells. That's where God met man, and
man met God, was the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies. That's where
the Ark of the Covenant was. That's where the Mercy Seat was.
That's where the Chair of the End was. Where? That's where
the Shekinah Glory was. Seek God where He is. Christ
is our tabernacle. God will meet you in Christ,
or God will meet you at the judgment. And you'll meet God in Christ,
or you'll meet God at the judgment. Where does a man seek God in
Christ? In His Word. These things are written that
you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and believing
you might have life through His name. Faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. Also, a man will seek God in
the preached Word. God is chosen by the foolishness
of preaching. That which we call foolishness
is the power of God unto salvation. That which we call sheer nonsense...
Who wants to sit and listen to a man preach, preach, preach,
preach? Well, most men, I don't want to listen to them either.
I'm on your side. Somebody said to me one time, if you knew what
I had to listen to every Sunday, you wouldn't urge me to go to
church. Well, I more or less agree with you. I wouldn't go
either if I had to listen to a lot that you have to listen
to. But I tell you, if you can find somebody preaching the Word,
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then go and hear it, because God will
reveal Himself in the preached Word. Also, seek Him among His
people. I like what Moses said to his
father-in-law. Come with us. Come on, go with
us. will do thee good. God manifests himself among his
people. That's where you seek the Lord.
You'll seek, now watch this, you shall seek me. You don't seek the blessing.
I know a lot of people, come to the front and seek the blessing.
Well, you might find something. You might find another spirit.
You might find a blessing that you think's a blessing that turns
out not to be a blessing. You better not seek the blessing.
Satan can give you a form of feeling, blessing, a lot of things. Peace there is where there is
no peace. Don't you seek the blessing. Don't seek even forgiveness
alone. You might find some kind of peace.
I'm serious. I'm telling you the truth. You
might find a peace of presumption. You talk about just peace at
any price. Well, the grave offers peace
too. No place is peaceful as a cemetery.
That's the most peaceful place on earth. There's nobody coming
out and nobody going in. There's nobody making too much
noise out there. And you might find the peace
of spiritual death. Don't seek peace. Don't seek
the covenant. Don't seek and find out if you're
one of the elect. Don't even seek assurance. What did he say?
You'll seek me. Me. If you get to Christ, you'll
have everything Christ is and has and gives. Don't seek these
things. You'll fool around and find some
of them without Christ. Temporary blessings. Seek Him. Israel. Let Israel hope in the
Lord. With the Lord there's mercy.
Too many religionists are satisfied with the form and the ceremony
and the rules and the doctrines and the constitutions and creeds
and bylaws and catechisms and all these things. Customs. I
want Him. Read the Song of Solomon. My
Beloved. My Beloved is mine and I'm His. I've got to have Christ.
Christ is real. Christ is personal. Christ dwells
in us. Christ lives in us. I've got
to have Him. And you've got to have Christ.
You shall see Him. You see, if you have Him, you
have forgiveness, you have the blessing, you have assurance,
you have the covenant, you have all of these peace and rest.
He is our peace. He is our rest. He is our wisdom.
But don't seek these things. I warn you, please, don't seek
these blessings, these gifts. I know people who seek tongues
and seek prophecy and seek healing and seek all these things. And
there's another spirit, the principalities and powers and rulers of the
darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places, and they give
things and do things remarkably. You remember when Moses threw
down his rod and became a serpent, and those pagan wise men of Egypt,
duplicated defeat. Now, you be careful. You seek
Christ in whatever He has for you now, whatever He's pleased
to give you now, whatever He's pleased to do with you now. That's
His business, that's His providence, that's His prerogative. But seek
Him. He said, when you search for
Me with all your heart, with all your heart. Now, I know God
doesn't work apart from the man. I know a man can't seek what
he doesn't know. He can't trust an unrevealed
Christ. But salvation is a hard work.
It's not mental acceptance of facts. It's not seeking the denomination
or the religious creed that appeals most to you. It's a hard work. Repentance is a hard work. Faith
is a hard work. Listen to the Scripture. Keep
your heart out of the end of the issues of life. My son, give
me your heart, God said. With a heart man deleveth unto
righteousness. The sacrifices of God are broken
heart and a contrite spirit. God looks not on the outward
countenance, but on the heart. One of the charges our Lord brought
against the religionists of His day, He said to them, You call
me Lord with your lips, but your hearts are far from me. And that
won't do. It just won't do. You believe
in one God, the devil believes in God. But he doesn't love God. We must seek Him with a true
heart, not a false heart, not a divided heart, not a double
heart, not half a heart, but a sincere and true broken heart. I don't know how to make this
clear to you. I've tried and tried and tried. But religion
is one thing. Salvation is an entirely different
matter. Now, you may be satisfied with religion, but I'm not. I want to know Him, whom to know
is life eternal. I want to win Christ and be found
in Him. I want to know Christ and the
power of His resurrected life. I want a union with Jesus Christ. And the Lord makes it plain that
those who come to Him, they come in heart. And coming in heart,
they come completely, like old Caleb. Caleb followed the Lord
fully. You know what Caleb means? Old
faithful dog. That's exactly what it means.
Come continually to whom coming as unto a living stone. Come
willingly. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life. Thy people shall be willing.
Come lovingly. Lovingly. We love him because
he first loved us. Come obediently, falling at his
feet, my Lord and my God. Come empty-handed. Don't bring
anything. Don't bring your time, talents,
tithe, or anything else. Just come as you are, without
one plea, but that his blood was shed for thee. And that he
bids thee come to him, O Lamb of God, I come. In my hands no
price I bring, simply to the cross of Christ I cling. Sink
or swim, I go to him. If I go to hell, I'll go to hell
looking to Christ, believing on Christ, trusting in Christ,
and clinging to his cross. Now that's the way you come.
It's a heart faith and a heart union. and a heart reception. My Jesus, I love Thee. I know
Thou art mine. For Thee, all the follies of
sin, I resign. My gracious Redeemer, my Savior,
art Thou. If ever I love Thee, my Jesus
is now. You'll seek me, He said, and
find me. When? When? You search for me. not
as a hobby, or a sideline, or a religious persuasion, or a
fit of emotion, or out of fear, or out of covetousness, but when
you seek Me with all your heart, when nothing else matters like
a relationship with Christ, and I'll be found of you, and I'll
be found of you. What a promise! Seek Me, and
you'll find Me when you search for Me with all your heart, and
I'll be found of you. If you want this message, it's
on cassette tape. There are two messages on this
tape. I brought one last Sunday on
the Preacher's Commission, and the other I brought this morning
on Seeking is to Find. Seeking. To Seek is to Find.
Write me and mention the time you heard the message and send
two dollars. That covers all the expenses.
Until next week, God bless you is my prayer.