A Word to Those Who Seek the Lord

Jeremiah 29 verse 13, and the
subject tonight, a word to those who seek the Lord. A word to
those who seek the Lord. I would caution you, as I have
spoken to my own height, don't take for granted that because
you are a member of this church that you have found the Lord. Don't take for granted because
you are a preacher, or a deacon, or an elder, or a Sunday school
teacher, or because you've been in the church for years that
you've found the Lord. You may not even be a seeker.
I want you to listen to the message tonight. I'm going to identify
those who seek the Lord, and I'm going to talk about why they
seek Him, and how they seek Him, and what happens when they do.
And I have a word for everybody here. Your eternal soul is too
important and eternity is too long for you to take for granted
that you know the Lord, that you found him and die in presumption
and hear him say, I never knew you. But Lord, we preached, I
never knew you. But we cast out devils in your
name, I never knew you. But we have done many wonderful
works in your name, I never knew you. Depart from me. Now he said
here in Jeremiah 29 verse 13, and you shall seek me, and you
shall seek me and find me, when you shall search for me with
all your heart. Now men and women by nature do
not seek God, contrary to what men may believe. The scripture
is very plain on this subject. Men by nature do not seek God. The scripture says the natural
mind is enmity against God. The natural mind is an enemy
of God. Romans chapter 3 says there's
none that seek God. There's none that understand
it. They all together become unprofitable. There's none that
doeth good, no, not one. Isaiah wrote, all we like sheep
have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. We do not seek God. John said
in chapter 3, verse 19 and 20, this is condemnation. Light is
coming to this world, but men love darkness rather than light
because their deeds are evil. Paul said in Philippians 2, 21,
all seek their own. They don't seek God. They don't
seek God's will. They seek their own. The Scripture is plain on this
subject. If I'm seeking the Lord tonight, it's not because I,
by nature, want Him. It's not because I, by nature,
desire Him. If you're seeking the Lord tonight,
it is not an act of the natural man. But many precious promises
are made to those who do seek the Lord. I want to be a seeker.
I want, above all things, to seek the Lord, to be able to
say with David, my heart, my soul panteth after thee, the
living God. My soul crieth out for thee,
the living God." In the book of Psalms alone, listen to all
these promises to those who seek the Lord. They shall praise the
Lord that seek him. Psalm 9, verse 10, Thou, Lord,
hath not forsaken them that seek thee. Psalm 34, 10, They that
seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Psalm 40, verse
16, Let all that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee. Psalm 119,
verse 2, Blessed are they that seek the Lord with their whole
heart. And our Lord said in Matthew
7, Seek and ye shall find. Seek and ye shall find. So when
we find a person who manifests enough interest in his soul and
in the things of God, to desperately and wholeheartedly and in scriptural
language, Charlie, violently seek the Lord. When we find a
sinner who manifests enough interest in his soul, I know you're interested
in your body. We had a healing service tonight.
We'd have ten times this many people here. I know men are interested
in gold and silver. If we were giving ten dollar
bills to everybody who came in the building tonight, this building
and ten more like it wouldn't hold the crowd. But somewhere
in this land there is somebody who's interested in his soul.
And he has enough interest in his soul and in the things of
God to desperately and earnestly and sincerely, with all his heart,
seek the Lord, whatever the cost. And it's a general principle
running all the way through this book, I've read you the scripture,
that those who seek the Lord, find him. Find him. It's a general principle that
runs throughout this book that a blessing is about to come on
those who seek the Lord with all their heart. Blessed are
they that hunger and thirst for righteousness, they'll be filled. They'll be filled. Now I speak
not of those who are satisfied with religion, who are satisfied
to go through the form of prayer, who are satisfied to go through
a form of worship. who are satisfied to have a form
of godliness. There's no heart there at all.
You can't say they're seeking the Lord with all their hearts.
There's no heart in it. It's a form of prayer. It's a
form of worship. It's a form of godliness. Having
a form of godliness but denying the power, the Apostle said. I speak not of those who are
content to live two lives, one for God and another for themselves. This is a double heart. I speak
not of those who are deceived and being deceived, professing
what they do not possess, and they know it, claiming what they've
never experienced, and they know it, professing to have what they
never had, and they know it. This is dishonest religion, and
it damns everybody who embraces it. This is a false high. I speak
not to those who have no heart or who have a double heart, who
have a false heart. I speak to those who seek the
Lord with all their heart. I speak to those tonight who
are seeking the Lord like the harlot sought Him, with tears
of repentance, finding her way into that hall where Christ was
at dinner with the Pharisees. stooping and creeping between
the people, she came to his feet as he lay stretched out on the
pillars. And, oh, she began to sob and to cry and began to weep,
and the tears fell from her eyes and covered his feet. And she
saw that the water was dropping on his feet and the dust was
caking and running, for the man had given him no water to wash
his dusty feet when he came in the house. So she took her hair
the pride of her womanhood, and she began to dry those feet and
wipe the tears off his dusty feet, seeking him with all her
heart. I speak to those who, like blind
Bartimaeus, will not be denied, who keep crying out, though men
say, hold your peace, don't get excited, Christ is not going
to do anything for you. Thou son of David, don't you
leave here till you have mercy on me. who seek the Lord like
Jacob, who said, Lord, I will not let you go until you bless
me. I speak to those who, like the
woman with the issue of blood, knowing that Christ was her only
hope, said, if I can just touch the hem of his garment, if I
can just get to him, I'll be made whole. I speak to those
who, like the leper, who ran down and fell at his feet and
worshipped him and cried, Lord, if you will, You can make me
whole. O God, lead me to seek Thee,
and seeking Thee to find Thee, and finding Thee to love Thee,
and loving Thee to glorify Thee." Well, I'll take religion if God's
giving it out. You won't take it that way. Well,
I'll let God save me if He's in the saving business. Not that
way. Well, I'll let God heal me, I'll
let God cleanse me, I'll let God put my name in the book of
life. You won't let God do anything. You'll seek Him with all your
heart or you will not find Him. Now, three questions that I want
to ask about those tonight who seek the Lord. And as I say,
I'm not speaking to those who are satisfied with religion,
who are satisfied with a little empty profession of faith and
the memorization of a few scriptures and doctrines. I have nothing
for you. I speak not to those who claim to have what they've
never experienced and profess to have what they've never known.
If you're content with that type of religion, I have nothing for
you. I speak not to those who are deceiving and being deceived.
I speak to those who are seeking the Lord. It is the beat of your
heart, it is the bend of your will, it is the cry of your soul,
O Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner. Why does such seek the Lord?
Why do they seek the Lord? What's happened? What's taken
place to lead a man to do what he does not by nature want to
do? What has taken place? Why do men seek the Lord? And
secondly, whom do they seek? What do they seek? And thirdly,
how do they seek Him? That's my word, the seekers.
There may be some here tonight. I believe there are. I believe
some people here tonight, like Jacob, who will cry, Lord, I
just will not let thee go except thou bless me. Whatever it costs
me, whatever it takes, give me Christ or I die. I must have
Christ. who can say with the Apostle
Paul, I count all things but done, that I may win Christ and
be found in him. Oh, that I may know him, that
I may know him, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. Why do such seek the Lord? Well,
here's the first reason. They seek him because God hath
awakened them. God hath quickened them. Put
the glory, give the glory to the one to whom it's due. Left
to ourselves, we'd go the way of all flesh. Left to ourselves,
we'd never call on God. Left to ourselves, we'd never
seek the Lord. Left to ourselves, we'd be content
in our blindness and deadness and darkness, wouldn't we? It
says in Ephesians chapter 2, and I'd like for you to turn
with me to this scripture. Ephesians, the second chapter,
beginning with verse 1. It describes us here, every one
of us. And you, and you who were dead
in trespasses and sin, wherein in time past you walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our behavior in times
past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind. And we were by nature children
of wrath, just like everybody else. But God, but God, who is
rich in mercy. It didn't say, but I had a change
of heart. It didn't say, but I was smarter
than somebody else. It doesn't say, but I got weary
of the way of the sinner. It says, but God, who is rich
in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when
we were in that condition. hath quickened us together with
Christ. Thy people, David wrote, thy
people, O God, shall be willing, willing to seek thee in the day
of thy power." The Lord Jesus turned to the disciples and said,
whom do you say that I am? The folks out there were saying,
well, he's some great prophet. He's John the Baptist, risen
from the dead. He's Elijah. He's Jeremiah, one
of the prophets. He said, but whom do you say
that I am? And Peter said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God. And Christ said, Blessed are
you, Peter, blessed are you. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you, but my Father which is in heaven. I say tonight,
if I am seeking the Lord, it's because the Lord sought me. If
I am seeking the Lord, it's because the Lord awakened me. If I am
seeking the Lord, it's because the Lord put that will and that
desire in my heart. He gets all the glory for even
my desire to worship Him and to know Him. I was out on the
broad road of sin and despair, crushed neath my burdens, my
sorrows and care. My constant companions were trouble
and doubt, till Jesus reached down and lifted me out. I was
building my home on dry, shifting sand, weary, wandering in a cold,
barren land. You're doomed now for A, I heard
Satan shout. Then Jesus reached down, and
he lifted me up." Why do men seek the Lord? It's because God
made them willing. Why do men seek the Lord? It's
because God awakened them, God quickened them. It's because
God Almighty came where they were and aroused them. If you
tonight have determined that you're not a sincere seeker of
the Lord, I'd cry, O God, awaken me! O God, show me my need! O God, disturb me! Don't let
me die unwarned and unconcerned and indifferent. If it's a burden
for you to read the Word of God, I'd cry out of my heart tonight.
I'd say, Lord, make that book live for me before I die. If
it's a chore for you to fall upon your knees and call on God,
I'd say, Lord, don't let me die indifferent and unconcerned and
go to hell. Disturb me. Trouble me. Do something for me. Because
He's the one who does it. You who were dead had He quickened. He quickened. And then the second
reason why they seek the Lord is this. God hath awakened them,
and secondly, they've been made to see, they've been made to
understand their dreadful condition. Those who are seeking the Lord
are those who have discovered that they need to seek Him. That
they've been separated from God because of what? S-I-N. David said, your sins have separated
you from God, and nothing, nothing, Nothing will ever be right till
you get back to God. Your conscience won't be right,
your heart won't be right, your home won't be right, your job
won't be right, your marriage won't be right, your family won't
be right. Nothing's going to be right till
you get right with God. That's so. Sin has separated
you from God. You're like a sheep out in the
wilderness away from the fold. You're like the prodigal son
eating the husk from the pigpen. You're like a branch severed
from the vine of life, withered, fit only for the burning. You're
like a leper outside the camp, crying, unclean, unclean, unclean. That's you. Your sins have separated
you from God. And the man who seeks the God
is the man who knows that. He knows that. I am so desperately weary of
hearing people, especially preachers, talk about folks being good moral
people. I was watching the television
this morning, and I heard a preacher talking about Nicodemus. And
he said, ìNicodemus came to the Lord, and Nicodemus was a good
moral man.î And the Lord said, ìBut Nicodemus, all you need
is to be born again.î If Nicodemus was a good moral man, so help
me he didn't need to be born again." The man who seeks God is the
man who realizes that with all his religion he's still a sinner. With all of his morality he's
still separated from God. With all of his so-called fleshly
righteousness, he's still a wiggling maggot in God's sight. If you
don't see that, you'll have to go to hell. Now, that's all there
is to it, and I hate to be so plain, but that's the only way
I know to describe it. The Word of God calls sinners
a worm. He said, Thou worm, Jacob, and
the word there is wiggling maggot. Right out of the dead carcass
of the dead horse that the buzzards have picked, that's where you
are, a wiggling maggot in God's sight, despised and rejected
and separated, unholy, unclean. And when you realize that, what
do you do? You start seeking the Lord. When
they found out they had no city to dwell in, they cried unto
the Lord. When they found out that their
bread they were eating was poison, they cried to the Lord. Hungry
and thirsty, their soul fainted in them, and they cried to the
Lord. And that's when He delivered
them. Why do men seek the Lord? Because God in sovereign mercy,
because God in sovereign grace, because God in fulfilling His
sovereign glory came and awakened them and showed them where they
were, in the pit. in the miry clay, in the very
cesspool of iniquity, unclean. And they began to seek the Lord.
Why do they seek the Lord? I'll tell you why. Thirdly, they
seek Him because they're weary, oh so weary, oh so weary of modern
false religion. The woman with the issue of blood
had gone, the Scripture says, to many positions She had spent
all that she had, and she was no better. That's like the spiritually
sick man who goes from synagogue to cathedral to chapel to church
to tabernacle to tent meeting to revival, and he trials all
these so-called soul physicians, and he's no better. He's no better. And finally she said, I just
must get to him. And I'll tell you, when you get
tired of all this fleshly false religion, all of these phony
recipes for addiction, and all of these phony plans of salvation,
when you get weary of them, when you've tried everything and they've
all failed, I point you to Christ, or I'll come to Him. Come to
Him. Peter said, Lord, to whom shall
we go? There's nothing in the form,
we've tried it. There's nothing in the holy days,
we've tried them. There's nothing in the ceremony,
we've tried them. There's nothing in the law, we've
tried it. There's nothing in the religious synagogues, we've
tried them. To whom shall we go? We tried
the law and it speaks nothing but condemnation. We tried the
altar and it gave no life. We tried the doctrine, the preacher,
the church, we read the scripture, we prayed, we've made decisions,
but none of these things will fill our empty hearts. Oh God,
deny me what you will, only ease me of my guilt. Broken at thy
feet I lie, I cry, give me Jesus Christ or I'll die. That's the
place they've come to who seek the Lord. Who are these who seek
the Lord? Why do they seek Him? Because
God hath awakened them. God hath taken their eyes off
the shiny vanities of this world and turned their eyes upon the
world to come. God hath awakened them to their
distance from Him. They're separated from Him. They're
sinners. One old Puritan said, a sinner
is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost hath made him
so, there are not many of them. Now you say, everybody's a sinner,
are you? Well, I'm not a bad sinner. Well, everybody's a sinner, are
you? Well, this sinner's worse than I am. Well, everybody's
a sinner, are you? Are you? Well, there's a lot
of things I haven't done. Everybody's a sinner, are you?
I haven't found one yet. When I find one, you know what
he'll be doing? He'll be seeking the Lord. Because
God never saves a man until he gets him lost. God never clothes
a man until he strips him. God never raises a man until
he slays him. There aren't many sinners, genuine,
unadulterated, bona fide sinners, unholy, unclean, who cry, Lord,
damn me if you will. You'd be just in doing so. But
Lord, have mercy. Have mercy. They come to God
with a rope around their neck. They come to God having signed
their own condemnation papers. They come to God giving glory
to God for his judgments. They seek the Lord. All right,
whom do they seek? Well, our text says, seek ye
shall seek me. and you shall find me when you
search for me." I have people who frequently call me, say,
I want to talk to you. I say, what about? I've got some questions I want
you to answer. I wish I could say to folks what
is really on my heart. But we must be gentle and kind. Don't seek the answer to questions.
Seek Christ. Seek Christ. That's what's wrong
with the whole religious world. The object of our search is a
person, not the answer to a question. Now get what I'm saying, and
this is where the world's missing the gospel. Listen to these men
of God. My soul thirsteth for God. Not for information, for God,
for the living God. David wrote, Oh, that I might
find Him, that I might, that I knew where I might find Him. Listen to Paul. Oh, that I might win Christ.
Oh, that I might know Him. My friends, men seek an experience. But that's the wrong object of
your search. Christ is our joy. Christ is
our peace. Christ is our rest. And finding
Him, we have these things. Men seek forgiveness. What do
you want? I want forgiveness of my sin, no matter how you
can get it. If forgiveness is given for baptism, we'll be baptized. If forgiveness is given for tithing,
we'll tithe. If forgiveness is given for something
else, we'll do it. Don't seek forgiveness. Seek
Him who is our sacrifice, our sin offering. If we have Him,
we have forgiveness. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. Do you see what I'm saying? You
shall seek me and find me when you search for me," he said.
Men seek a feeling. Oh, preacher, if I could just
get rid of these doubts and fears anyway, well, you can go to a
psychiatrist and he'll help you get rid of your doubts and fears.
You can adopt some kind of false religion, positive thinking,
get rid of your doubts and fears. I don't want to get rid of my
doubts and fears. I want to know Him. Men seek a relationship with
God. Christ is our mediator, and having
Him, we have a relationship with God. Men seek a righteousness. I am not seeking a righteousness,
I'm seeking a person. And when I have Him, I have that
righteousness. Men are seeking an eternal home.
They're seeking eternal life. They don't care how they get
it. But my friends, Christ is our life. I wish I could make
clear what I'm saying here, because it's the most important part
of the whole message. This is where false religion
deceives people. They have an experience and call
it salvation. They get a feeling and call it
salvation. They turn over a new leaf and
reform their lives and quit certain sins and call it salvation. They
join a church and get busy serving God and call it salvation. They
spend a certain time during the day in prayer and read their
Bibles a certain length of time and God answers a prayer to them,
they call it salvation. Salvation is a person. It's a
person. Christ said, This is eternal
life, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent. He that hath the Son hath life,
not he that hath an experience, not he that hath a feeling, not
he that hath a good moral life, he that hath the Son. Do you
know Him? You don't find Him till you seek
Him. And you don't find Him till you seek Him with all your heart.
And you don't find Him till He's the one object of your search.
And when you find Him, You have everything. I'm complete in Him. You have comfort in time of sorrow. You have joy in time of mourning.
You have a companion who walks with you and talks with you along
life's narrow way. You have redemption. You have
sanctification. You have righteousness. You have
all things in Christ when you get to Him. I just know, I just know I've
been in this thing long enough to know this, that most people
are given by Satan and satanic spirits a substitute for Christ. And they don't get to Christ.
They stop short of Christ. Judas was in the church and he
had all these things that men have today, but he didn't have
Christ. You shall seek me and find me when you search for me. with all your heart. And that's
when these things lose their attractiveness to us, is when
we find one who's more attractive. That's when these things lose
their glory for us, when we find Him who is the chief glory. That's
when we tear up our blueprints, when we discover His is so much
better. That's when we lose all of our
so-called ambitions, when we find out to be like Him is my
sole ambition, my sole ambition. That's when you can stop preaching
on tithing, that's when you can stop passing out pledge cards,
that's when you can stop trying to bribe people to come to church,
that's when you can quit trying to get people to witness and
trying to get them to read their Bible and trying to get them,
you can quit all that stuff when they find the Lord. Because one
who knows him can't help but talk to him. One who knows him
can't help but love him. One who knows him can't help
but live for his glory. Now, the third question I close.
How do they seek the Lord? Why do they seek him? Because
God's awakened them, and God's shown them their guilt and their
sin, and the fact that they're so far away from him, that God
has shown them the faults foundation of this world religion. They're unsatisfied, dissatisfied. They've got to have Christ. And
whom do they seek? Him. And they're not going to
stop short of Him. They're not going to take your
assurance that they're saved. They're not going to let you
talk them into a profession of faith. They don't want that.
They want Christ. And how do they seek Him? Now
listen to me quickly, with all your heart. Now, when the Word
of God talks about seeking the Lord with all your heart, it
means more than your emotions. It means, first of all, to seek
Him with the understanding. That Ethiopian eunuch was coming
from Jerusalem, going home, and he was reading Isaiah 53. Philip
walked up beside the chariot and heard him reading. He was
wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and
so forth. And Philip said, Do you understand what you're reading?
And he said, How can I, except somebody show me?" Philip said,
what? He said, Do you understand? The
true minister of God is not willing to get a profession of faith
out of a man who doesn't understand. He's not willing to stand over
the casket, as I've seen preachers do it, of a dead mother and say
to a rebellious son, Did you love your mother? Your mother
gone to heaven? Yes, sir, she's gone to be with
the Lord. Are you saved? No, sir. Do you want to meet
mother? Well, yes, I do. Will you take my hand and believe
on Jesus and you'll meet mother? Well, I guess so. You're saved.
No honest preacher of the gospel ever pull a trick like that because
he wants people to understand, understand. Philip said, Do you
understand a committal of Christ? involves an understanding of
what? An understanding of sin, an understanding
of God's righteousness, an understanding of Christ's sacrifice, an understanding
of who Christ is and what he did and why he did it. And the
true minister of Christ is willing to preach to a man and preach
to him and preach to him till he comes to that understanding. The Scripture says, "...the Son
of God hath come and given us an understanding." Seek Him with the understanding,
with the intelligence. And then secondly, seek Him with
your will. The Scripture says, "...whosoever
will, let him take the water of life." The Scripture tells
us, "...thy people shall be willing." Turn to Luke chapter 14, if you
will. Listen to the Lord speaking here.
in Luke 14, he said, beginning with verse 27, "...whosoever
does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."
Now, which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down
first and count the cost, whether you have sufficient material
to finish it? Lest, happily, after you have laid the foundation,
you are not able to finish it, and people begin to mock you
and say, this man began to build and was not able to finish. Verse
33, "...so likewise Whosoever of you that forsaketh not all
that he hath cannot be my disciple." Now this thing of a saving relationship
with God is more than a sentimental belief in God. This thing of
a saving relationship with God is more than a sentimental belief
in the death of Christ. This thing of a saving relationship
with God is an intelligent committal of the will to Christ. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, and I am persuaded he is able to keep that which
I have committed to him against that day. Men who seek the Lord
seek him with the understanding God teaches them. The Scripture
says, "...no man can come to me except my Father which sent
me, draw him," and watch it now, "...and they shall all be taught
of God. He that cometh to me is taught
of God." And that's the reason I say to people here in this
congregation, they come and they hear the gospel, I say to them,
keep on coming, keep on listening. Keep on listening. You've got
to have some kind of understanding of who God is and what you are
and what you've done and your sin. Some kind of understanding
of who Christ is, what Christ did, why he did it, where is
he now, what is God's way of redemption. And secondly, is
that what you really want? Are you willing to pay the price?
Are you willing to commit your life? It's a committal. It's
a total committer to Christ. And if you can't totally commit
yourself to Christ, don't you play with it. You need to stay
where you are. Scripture says in the book of
Ecclesiastes, if you start making vows to God, you'd better be
prepared to keep them. You'd better be prepared to keep
them over here in Ecclesiastes. Verse 5, it says, "...when thou
vowest to vow unto God, defer not to pay it." He has no pleasure
in fools. You better pay that which you
vow. Better! You shouldn't vow at all that
you should vow and not pay. You press down this aisle and
take my hand and tell people you trust in Christ, and then
you leave in six months. It would be better if you hadn't
walked that aisle. You see what I'm saying? That's what he's
saying here. You come down here and take my
hand and say to this congregation, I'm going to live for Christ.
You better not be lying. You better not be lying. Because
Peter said, as they struck Ananias dead and carried him out, Ananias,
you didn't lie to me, you lied to God. That's what I'm saying. You wonder why I don't do like
these high-pressure preachers put all this pressure on people
and send these soul winners out here to drag them down the aisle
because I don't want people lying to God, and I know 9 out of 10
do, under this high-pressure evangelism. Seek Him with your understanding. Seek Him with your will. I'm
not afraid to say to a seeking sinner, you sit down now, fellow,
and count the cost. When you believe on Jesus Christ,
when you receive him, you just might lose your family. You just
might lose your best friends. In fact, a great possibility
you will. You just might lose your job.
It just might cost you more than you're willing to pay. You just
might have to live a life of loneliness. God just might send
you to China as a missionary. Now, you'd better sit down and
decide whether or not Christ is everything And if he's not
everything, you just stay away. That's what he said there in
Luke 14. You go home and read it again. If you're going to
build a tower, you sit down and count the cost. Turn to Luke 13 quickly. It says here
in verse 23, And he said, Strive to enter
in, strive to enter in your wholehearted energy, for many, I say, will
seek to enter in and shall not be able. The object to be gained
is eternal life. It's worthy of my undivided attention. The danger and evil from which
I escape is eternal damnation. It's worthy of my utmost energy. The greatness of the mercy which
I seek is the pardon of all my sin, perfect righteousness in
Christ, adoption into the family of God. Is not this worth my
life?" How do you seek the Lord? You seek him with your understanding. The eunuch said, Philip, I don't
understand. I don't understand." And Philip
sat down and taught him. You seek him with your will.
Are you willing? Are you willing to stand alone?
Are you willing to stand and be counted? Are you willing to
live for the glory of God? Are you willing for Christ to
be your master, whatever it costs? Don't come if you're not. Don't
come. Don't make a profession. God
will hold you to it. Seek Him with all your energy.
And let me ask this question. This has always been a disturbing
thought to me. How do we dare approach God with any less than
our best? I don't understand it. I don't
understand how we can dare approach the Supreme God of the universe
with any less than wholehearted, sincere effort. When a man comes here to speak,
how can he? How can he give any less than
his best? When a person is called on to
teach a class, these little children. I've known Sunday school teachers
through my life. That's the reason I've been so
upset with Sunday schools. I've known Sunday school teachers
through my life. If they were going to speak to
a a meeting of a civic club that study all week. But somebody
gave them a group of junior boys to teach the things of God, and
about 11.30 on Saturday night they start looking up something
to teach them. In the name of God, can a person approach the
Supreme God of the universe or seek to serve Him with anything
less than our very best? So I'm telling you this, if we're
going to seek the Lord, Old Barnard used to say he'd
be Lord of all or he won't be Lord at all. It's going to be
with my whole heart. You shall seek me and find me
when you search for me with all your heart. Now, you can stop
at all the junctions and you can get off with rain wherever
you want to, but I pray that somebody here, somebody of my
acquaintance, somebody of my fellowship will be determined,
sink or swim, to go to him. I'm going to get to Christ. When
pangs of death seized on my soul unto the Lord I cried, Till Jesus
came and made me whole, I will not be denied. As Jacob in the
days of old, I wrestle with the Lord, And instant with a courage
bold, I stand upon his word. Oh, Satan said the Lord's gone,
He's not going to hear your prayer, but praise the Lord, the work
is done, and Christ my Lord is here. I will not be denied. I will not be denied till Jesus
comes and makes me whole. I will not be denied. Can you
say that? But to those who can say that,
I can say this, you'll find Him. You'll find Him, but not with
half a heart. not with a double heart, not with a false heart. When you search for Him with
all your heart, He's worth it. He's worth it. Our Father in
Heaven, take away from us every ambition
except to know Christ, every desire except to be conformed
to His image. O Lord, humble us down in the
dust. Let us be willing to be nothing,
to have nothing, only to have Christ. But when we have Him,
we have all things. When we have Him, we have the
hope of glory, life eternal. Move on the heart of some people
in this congregation to make it the very goal of their existence
to win Christ and be found in Him, to know Him and the power
of the resurrected life, to be delivered from self. For it's
in His name we pray and for His sake. Amen.

A Word to Those Who Seek the Lord

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A Word to Those Who Seek the Lord

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