Without a sense of helplessness you will never seek the LORD. The way to seek Him as a sinner is to see yourself in need of a Savior. And that means you have to admit that you are completely helpless in the face of certain judgment. There is a judgment to come. The sooner a soul comes to grips with his helpless state before God, the sooner he comes to see that his greatest need is the work of Christ on the Cross.
The Scripture teaches us that the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Ezekiel 18:4 says “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” And Ezekiel 18:20 says “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. ...” And in the NT we read that the wages for sin is death. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; ...” 1. The message to the helpless sinner is that you must seek the LORD today. Today is the day of salvation. Isaiah 55:6. “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (7) Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” That's what the LORD has to say to the sinner. “Seek ye the LORD while He may be found." Think about this. Why would anyone reject the free gift of eternal life? If your pride is standing in the way of you repenting and turning to Christ today, you can be sure that there is a judgment to come and rejecting Christ today means that He's not available after you leave this world. Today is the Day of Salvation. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him hath everlasting life.” Now, the majority of the Scripture passages in the Bible on seeking the LORD were given to those who are Believers. There are a lot of them. Here are just a few. I Chronicles 16:10 “Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. (11) Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.” |
II Chronicles 15:12 “And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;...”
Psalm 27:8 “When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek." Psalm 34:10 “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.” Psalm 105:3 “Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. Psalm 105:4 “Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.” Psalm 119:2 “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. Psalm 119:10 “With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.” First, then, what does it mean to the Child of God to “seek the LORD"? Pastor John Piper puts it this way. “Both the Old and New Testaments say it is a “setting of the mind and heart” on God. It is the conscious fixing or focusing of our mind’s attention and our heart’s affection on God.” [Found on www.desiringgod.org] I Chronicles 22:19says “Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; ...” <p>The Apostle Paul says this to the NT Christians Colossians 3:1 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. (2) Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Here's the practical side of this wonderful command to see the LORD. 1. Choose to be aware of the LORD as you make every decision throughout your day. Some of us, sadly, choose to make Sunday the day we set our affections on things above. That's not seeking the LORD. Here's how Moses puts it. Deuteronomy 4:29 ”But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul." |