1.
INTRODUCTION:
To seek the Lord
ü
It is not simply
a call merely to seek religious notions, opinions.
ü
This is not a
call simply to attain religious philosophy.
ü
It is not a call
simply to seek morality, to find a good, moral, decent, upstanding life.
ü
It is not a call
to seek some kind of self-help religion,
ü
It is not a call
to some kind of feeling,
ü
It is not a call
to some kind of experience that comes over you and sends shivers down your
spine and you cannot describe what it is.
ü
But it is a call
to seek God Himself, to have direct dealings with the Almighty, the Creator.
ü
God addresses us
in His Word, "Seek My face, call upon My name, come unto Me."
2.
THE URGENCY THEN IS THIS:
ü
Overcome the sin
then of complacency. Oh,
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Overcome the sin
of self-sufficiency. Oh,
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Overcome the sin
of hiding from service,
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Overcome
Spiritual indifference,
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Overcome
spiritual apathy,
Isaiah
55:6 "Seek ye the LORD while he may
be found, call ye upon him while he is near."
3.
EMPOWERMENT COMES ONLY FROM ACTIVELY SEEKING GOD
ü
There is nothing
more important than to seek Him, to call upon Him, and to draw close to Him in
trust and love. Seek Him confidently
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What do those
words mean, to seek the Lord and to call upon Him?
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This is not a
call to a mere religious formalism.
ü
You have
forgotten who you are, and why you exist
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You are willing
to let others do everything that needs to be done
ü
Little or no
compassion for anyone
4.
A PERSON SEEKS GOD BY:
1.
Desiring Him.
2.
By loving Him.
3.
By worshiping Him.
4.
By searching His word.
5.
By fasting.
6.
By prayer.
One
of the greatest problems we have in the church too many only seek for themselves.
God
is calling us to maturity, to Growth, and to advance his kingdom, to save
souls, to display righteousness and demonstrate Holiness into lost corrupt
world.
ü
The more we seek
God, the more we become like God
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The more we seek
God, the more we are empowered, and strengthened.
ü
The more we seek
God, the more possibilities exist.
ü
The more we seek
God, the better we represent God
ü The more we seek God, more souls will be saved.
2
Chronicles 7:14“If My people who are called by My name will humble
themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I
will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Hosea
10:12“Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow
ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness
on you.”
5.
ITS TIME TO SET OUR HEARTS TO SEEK THE LORD
1
Chronicles 22:19“Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God.
Therefore arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the
covenant of the Lord and the holy articles of God into the house that is to be
built for the name of the Lord.”
6.
ITS TIME TO PREPARE TO SEEK THE LORD
2
Chronicles 12:13-14“Thus King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and
reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; and he
reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of
all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother’s name was Naamah,
an Ammonitess. And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to
seek the Lord.”
2
Chronicles 17:3-6“Now the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in
the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals, but sought the
God of his father, and walked in His commandments and not according to the acts
of Israel. Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand; and all
Judah gave presents to Jehoshaphat, and he had riches and honor in abundance.
And his heart took delight in the ways of the Lord; moreover he removed the high
places and wooden images from Judah.”
2
Chronicles 19:2-3“And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him,
and said to King Jehoshaphat, ‘Should you help the wicked and love those who
hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you. Nevertheless good
things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the
land, and have prepared your heart to seek God.’”
2
Chronicles 30:18-19“For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim,
Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the
Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying,
‘May the good Lord provide atonement for everyone who prepares his heart to
seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to
the purification of the sanctuary.’ And the Lord listened to Hezekiah and
healed the people.’”
Ezra
6:21“Then the children of Israel who had returned from the captivity ate
together with all who had separated themselves from the filth of the nations of
the land in order to seek the Lord God of Israel.”
Ezra
7:10“For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do
it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.”
7.
ITS TIME TO SEEK THE LORD WITH ALL OF OUR HEART, SOUL,
MIND AND STRENGTH
Numbers
4:29“But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if
you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Deuteronomy
4:29“But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him
if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
8.
ITS TIME TO COVENANT TOGETHER TO SEEK THE LORD
2
Chronicles 15:12-15“Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God
of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; and whoever would
not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great,
whether man or woman. Then they took an oath before the Lord with a loud voice,
with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns. And all Judah rejoiced at the oath,
for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and
He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.”
9.
IT TIME TO SEEK THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND
Isaiah
55:6-9“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him
return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will
abundantly pardon. ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My
ways,” says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My
ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’”
Zephaniah
2:3“Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day
of the Lord’s anger.”
Romans 2:4-11 “Or do you despise the riches of His
goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God
leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your
impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath
and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who “will render to each one
according to his deeds”: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in
doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are
self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation
and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the
Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who
works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no
partiality with God.”