Seeking God
Notes
Transcript
Scriptural Text: Matt. 6:33
Scriptural Text: Matt. 6:33
In Bunyan’s great allegory, Pilgrim’s Progress, the incident is related of how Christian decides to leave the Main Highway and follow another Path which seemed easier. But this Path leads him into the territory of Giant Despair who owns Doubting Castle.
Eventually he is captured by Giant Despair and kept in a dungeon. He is advised to kill himself. The Giant said there was no use trying to keep on with his journey. For the time, it seemed as if Despair had really conquered Christian. But then, Hope, Christian’s companion, reminds him of previous victories. So it came about that on Saturday about midnight they began to pray, and continued in prayer until almost morning.
Now a little before it was day, good Christian, as one half-amazed, broke out in passionate speech, “What a fool am I thus to lie in a stinking Dungeon, when I may as well be at liberty. I have a Key in my bosom called Promise that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle.” Then said Hopeful, “That’s good news. Good Brother, pluck it out of thy bosom and try.” And the prison gates flew open.
2 Peter 1:3–4 (ESV) 3His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
4by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
There are three kinds of people in the world; those who have sought God and found Him and now serve Him, those who are seeking Him but have not yet found Him, and those who neither seek Him nor find Him. The first are reasonable and happy, the second reasonable and unhappy, and the third unreasonable and unhappy. Blaise Pascal
There are three kinds of people in the world; those who have sought God and found Him and now serve Him, those who are seeking Him but have not yet found Him, and those who neither seek Him nor find Him. The first are reasonable and happy, the second reasonable and unhappy, and the third unreasonable and unhappy. Blaise Pascal
Seeking refers to a search for something that is either lost or that is desired. It carries a sense of applied effort toward reaching a specific goal.
God’s desire is that all people should seek after him and find him. Those who seek God with all their heart are rewarded, but those who fail to seek him do so to their eternal loss.
God’s heart is for people to seek him
God wants people to seek him (Ac 17:27; See also 1 Ch 16:11; 1 Ch 22:19; Ps 14:2; Ac 15:16–17; Am 9:11–12; Heb 11:6)
God wants people to seek him (Ac 17:27; See also 1 Ch 16:11; 1 Ch 22:19; Ps 14:2; Ac 15:16–17; Am 9:11–12; Heb 11:6)
Acts 17:27 (ESV) — 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
Seeking Significance “In All the Wrong Places” (Matt. 7:13; 2 Cor. 4:18)
Seeking Significance “In All the Wrong Places” (Matt. 7:13; 2 Cor. 4:18)
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.”(Matthew 7:13)
Seeking to be happy vs. seeking to be holy
Seeking to be religious in a church vs. seeking to grow in a relationship with Christ
Seeking cultural Christianity vs. seeking biblical Christianity
Seeking external do’s and don’ts vs. seeking internal obedience of the heart
Seeking human approval vs seeking God’s approval
Seeking your own will vs. seeking God’s will
Seeking to live for present gain vs. seeking to live for eternal values
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”(2 Corinthians 4:18)
God calls people to seek him (Is 55:6–7; See also Ho 10:12; Am 5:4–6)
God calls people to seek him (Is 55:6–7; See also Ho 10:12; Am 5:4–6)
Isaiah 55:6–7 (ESV) — 6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
God promises to be found by those who seek him (Pr 8:17; See also Dt 4:29–31; 1 Ch 28:9; 2 Ch 15:1–2; Is 45:19; Je 29:11–14; Mt 7:7–8)
God promises to be found by those who seek him (Pr 8:17; See also Dt 4:29–31; 1 Ch 28:9; 2 Ch 15:1–2; Is 45:19; Je 29:11–14; Mt 7:7–8)
Proverbs 8:17 (ESV) — 17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
Seeking God is an issue of the heart
Seeking God begins in the heart (Ps 27:8; See also 2 Ch 11:16)
Seeking God begins in the heart (Ps 27:8; See also 2 Ch 11:16)
Psalm 27:8 (ESV) — 8 You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
Wholeheartedness in seeking God is required (Je 29:13; See also Dt 4:27–29; 1 Ch 22:17–19; 2 Ch 15:12–15; Ps 63:1)
Wholeheartedness in seeking God is required (Je 29:13; See also Dt 4:27–29; 1 Ch 22:17–19; 2 Ch 15:12–15; Ps 63:1)
Jeremiah 29:13 (ESV) — 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
Psalm 63:1 (ESV) 1O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
A. THE ATTITUDE
“And ye shall seek me.”
1. Sincere seeking—Isa. 55:6. Seek God when you feel Him speaking to you. He honors sincere seekers. God often moves us to pray, but if we keep putting it off, our hearts become hardened toward Him.
2. Sanctified seeking—Hos. 10:12. Note the progression: (a) sow in righteousness, (b) reap in mercy, (c) break up fallow (hard) ground, (d) seek the Lord, and (e) righteousness will rain upon you.
3. Surrendered seeking—Matt. 6:33. Seek first the kingdom of God. We must not follow our selfish ambitions, but God’s plan and purpose for our lives.
B. THE ANSWER
“And [ye shall] find me.”
1. Promise—Jer. 33:3. God longs to do great things through us, if we only ask Him. He will do more than we ask!
2. Prayer—Matt. 7:7–9. Note the persistence needed in prayer: (a) asking, (b) seeking, and (c) knocking. A right heart that persists in prayer will get a response from God (James 5:16).
3. Purity.
a) Confession—“Confess your faults one to another.”—James 5:16.
b) Cleansing—Ps. 139:23, 24. Confession brings cleansing.
4. Person—James 5:16. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Not any man, but a righteous man.
5. Power—James 5:17. Elijah was a man just like we are; yet God sent His power in answer to Elijah’s prayer. Note that “he prayed again.” He did not give up. We must not give up. We must keep praying. God will answer!
C. THE ATTENTION
“When ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
1. Definite praying—Ps. 55:17. Have a definite time each day to pray. Just as you eat at regular times, have special, regular times to pray.
2. Detained praying—Is. 40:31. Wait on the Lord; allow God to speak to you.
3. Determined praying—Gen. 32:26. Note that Jacob said “I will not let go.” Are we able to pray those words?
4. Dedicated praying—Dan. 6:10. Daniel prayed and gave thanks even when he knew it was dangerous to do so. Prayer does not only consist of asking … it is thanking and praising!
Seeking God and his kingdom is the priority of life (Mt 6:33; See also Ps 27:4; Mt 13:44–46)
Seeking God and his kingdom is the priority of life (Mt 6:33; See also Ps 27:4; Mt 13:44–46)
Matthew 6:33 (ESV) — 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Psalm 27:4 (ESV) — 4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.