Seek ye the LORD

I'd like you to open your Bibles to the book of Isaiah please. Isaiah chapter 55. Just one verse here and I want you to listen to it.

This verse was given to me by my grandma when I was very small. I don't know what age I was but maybe two or three years old. She painted the text and it was put in my room above my headboard.

Now if there's a verse that could speak to you. Grandma never said too much to me about the gospel but that verse on the wall it spoke to me every day. And I want to read it with you to let you know what that verse said.

Isaiah chapter 55 and reading there at verse 6. It says, seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. You probably learned the verse in Sunday school or children's meeting.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. You know the verse but have you sought to just think about the verse.

What is it saying? What are the words that God is telling you? He says seek ye the Lord while he may be found. And you know I can remember many nights just sitting up and looking at that text. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found.

When can you find the Lord? You know when you can find the Lord? Tonight. That's the only time that God is offering you salvation. God does not offer you salvation tomorrow nor the next day.

He's offering you salvation tonight. And he says seek ye the Lord while, when? While he may be found. And then he says call upon him while he is near.

How are you seeking? How are you seeking? You know if you don't seek for him you'll never find him. The Bible says seek ye the Lord. So you have to look for him in order to find him.

It's not gonna be that just one day you're walking along and and wow I got saved. No you have to seek for him. You have to look for him.

You have to understand your need before him and seek for him with all your heart. Seek ye the Lord. Some people they say they go out to the ocean and they're looking for shells along the beach.

And you know they pick up one here and they pick up one over there. But they aren't really seeking anything. They're just picking up what they find along the beach.

I want to give you another situation. What if you went to the doctor? The doctor run a bunch of tests on you. And he says come back in eight days and I will have the results of the tests.

And you come back eight days later not feeling too good and you walk into the doctor's office. He says sit down and he starts telling you he says pulling out the reports. He says you have a tumor.

You have one month to live. Life changes very quickly. What about my soul? Where will my soul spend eternity? You know this body is gonna decay one day if the Lord be not come.

But it's not so important the body. It's more important the soul. And he says seek ye the Lord and seek with him with all your heart.

Now I want to go over to Matthew's Gospel chapter 1. And I want to read just how some of the people were seeking the Lord. Matthew chapter 1. Excuse me Mark chapter 1. Mark's Gospel chapter 1. And reading there at verse 35. He says and in the morning rising up a great while before day.

This he prayed. Always wondered what he prayed for. Was he praying for for me? Was he praying for you? He prayed.

And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. And when they had followed and when they had found him they said unto him all men seek thee. All men seek thee.

That means all men are gonna be saved. Because if they're seeking that then they're they're gonna find Christ. But you know there's different degrees of seeking Christ.

There's a one that's truly earnest and truly wants to be saved and he's seeking with all his heart. And it's on his mind all the time. I need to get saved.

I need to find forgiveness. And he's always thinking about it. Maybe the other one is a casual thought.

Drops through my mind once in a while. I need to get saved. Who's gonna find salvation? The one that's truly seeking for him.

One that's truly looking for him. You know we had a guard that used to guard our block in San Salvador. We have had some problems with thievery.

And so there's guards that come around and they for three dollars they'll guard your block for a whole month. And they got like a lot of houses that they guard. And so between all the houses they get enough money for what they need for their sustenance.

And so the guard was watching our block and he had found some thieves and he had held them up. The police came captured him and took him away. Well the police or the thieves had come before the the judge and the judge sentenced him to like two months in jail whatever it was.

And then they were let go. And these guys came back together. Now this policeman he had been guarding our house for oh I've got to say at least ten years.

His name was Rene. In his helmet they all have the metal helmet that they used to carry over their heads. And in his helmet he always carried a couple tracks.

And I kept asking him I said Rene when do you gonna get saved? Oh not yet. He says that the world's treating me too good right now. I'm enjoying life.

And he was in his 40s or maybe late 30s. He says I'm enjoying life. I don't need it yet.

He said I got a steady job. I got to pay. I got my family.

But he always kept those tracks right up there in his helmet. And one day we were in the house and we heard some shots going off. Bam, bam, bam.

Five shots. Next thing we get somebody comes to the doorbell and rings our doorbell. And they said we want the missionary to come.

I said what for? They said they've shot Rene. Why are you calling me now? You could have talked to me any day of the week. But now that you have five bullets that have pierced through your body and death is close.

Now you're seeking. And you know we went running to that man. And by the time we got there the ambulance has already taken him away.

And Rene died with tracks in his helmet. Knew the way of salvation but wasn't interested. What does my Bible say? There were many that sought for him, that were seeking for him.

It says all men seek thee. But how are you seeking? Are you seeking with all your heart? Do you really want to come to know the Savior? Let's go over to Luke's Gospel chapter 2. Luke's Gospel back chapter 2. I believe this is the way you should seek. If you really want to find him, read this story.

It says verse 43. Luke chapter 2 and verse 43. It says, and when they had fulfilled the days as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.

But they, supposing him to be in the company, went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem. What does it say? Seeking him.

Seeking him. And when they came to pass that after three days, what does it say? They found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. Verse 49.

And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? Here we have our Lord Jesus Christ, twelve years old, and he's in the company that had come to Jerusalem, to the Passover. And after the ceremony was done, those that had come to the ceremony are returning back home. And you got Joseph and Mary, and maybe they were both in different groups.

They couldn't have been together. And Joseph is thinking, well, Jesus is with Mary. That's where he belongs to be, with his mother.

And Mary is thinking, well, he's with his father. That's where he belongs to be. And they're both going along.

Maybe night occurred, and they come together. And Joseph asks, where's Jesus? Isn't he with you? No. Wasn't he with you? No.

And what did they do? It says that they turned around again to Jerusalem, seeking him. This is what it is to seek. If you want to find something, you go looking for it, and look for it with all your heart.

It wasn't that Mary and Joseph said, don't worry about it. We'll find him somewhere along the way. That wasn't seeking.

They said, we'll stop everything we're doing. What's the value of my soul? What if my soul is lost for all eternity? I need to seek him, and I need to seek him now. And they sought him.

And it says, and they returned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. It wasn't a half-sort seeking him. They wanted to find him before something might happen to him.

They loved their son, and they went seeking for him. Are you seeking? Are you seeking with all your heart? I know the night I got saved, I'd been in gospel meetings for probably over four weeks. There were 30 that professed to be saved, or over 30 that professed to be saved at those gospel meetings.

I saw the happiness on others, and yet I didn't have it. One night after the gospel meeting, I can just remember I sat stuck to my chair. I couldn't get up.

Everybody walked out. One of the brethren came up to me and says, what do you want, Craig? I want to get saved. I want to get saved.

That's where it is, to seek and to seek with all your heart. Put your mind to it. Look for him.

And what did they find with the Lord Jesus Christ? Says even after three days, three days, they finally came across him. And where was he? He's in the temple. And he's speaking to some of the people there in the temple.

They found him. They sought, and they found. Luke chapter 19.

Luke chapter 19. This is the story of Zacchaeus. All I want to read is verse 10.

For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost. For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Who's the Son of Man? Our Lord Jesus Christ.

And what's he doing? He's seeking for you. Seeking for you. He's looking for you.

He wants you. For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. I just saw a little clip of a video that was taken a year ago.

There was a big building and it was on fire. And it was, I guess, a restaurant of some kind. One of the towns.

There was a gas line that had exploded and it caught the restaurant on fire. And a man was going by in his car. And as the car went by the restaurant, the whole car shook.

And the man got out of the car because of what had happened. He knew it was an explosion of some kind. And he went and he ran around his car and then ran straight into the restaurant.

What was he doing? He was seeing if there was anybody inside. The flames were coming out the roof already. And he's around inside and he's trying to find people that are inside.

And after about 30 seconds, the photographer focuses in on the window. And he comes out carrying somebody in his arms and he just throws them down. And he runs back inside again.

He finds one more person. He's got her on his back. And he brings her outside to safety.

You know, those two people were interviewed. They said if it wouldn't be for him, we wouldn't be alive today. He risked his life to save us.

You know, I want to tell you of someone that didn't risk his life to save you. I want to tell you of somebody that gave his life to save you. He went all the way to the cross.

Why did he suffer there? Wounds in his hands and his feet. And he cries out and he says, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Who was the person that did deserve that cross was you and I. The holy son of God. I still can't fathom it.

How his holy son could go and take my sins, be the sin bearer, and die in my place. He paid the ransom there on the cross. And we have verse 10, for the son of man has come to seek, he's looking for you, and to save.

And to save. That's what he wants to do. He wants to save you.

He loves you. He gave his life for you. And now he wants to save you.

And he's seeking for you. But I want to read one more verse, over in John's gospel chapter 7. John's gospel chapter 7. If you have a pencil and you are not saved, I would ask you to underline this verse. Because you're going to remember it someday.

John's gospel chapter 7 and reading there at verse 34. It says, ye shall seek me and shall not find me. And where I am thither ye cannot come.

Ye shall seek me and shall not find me. Won't that be a sad day? When you really want to come to an account. When's this happening? The Lord has come already.

He's taken his people home. His children home. And you have been left behind.

And now it says, and you will seek me and will not find me. He's not there. He's not there.

What a dreadful thing to be lost. Without hope. And know where to go.

You could come to your Bible and what are you going to read? And ye shall seek me and shall not find me. There's no hope for me. I've lost it.

I've lost my soul. Forever. Because of toying with the idea of receiving Christ as your Savior.

You never got serious with God. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Chapter 8 verse 21.

Chapter 8 verse 21. It says, then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way and ye shall seek me and shall die in your sins. Whither I go ye cannot come.

Ye seek me and cannot find me. The second verse we've read, ye shall seek me and die in your sins. Die in your sins.

This is what the Lord Jesus Christ went to pay the price on Calvary's cross. To take your place. To suffer in your stead.

To pay for your sins. But since you didn't receive Christ as your Savior, he says, ye shall seek me and die in your sins. What an awful thought.

You might think, well, I'll go back to the gospel meeting. There'll be nobody at the gospel meeting. Oh, well, I'll just find some some friends, Christian friends.

No, they're all gone. There's nothing you can do. The day of salvation is done.

The door is closed. And you have no entrance. I'll tell you a little experience that I had many years ago.

I was a boy of six years old. My mom and my dad had gone to New York. We were flying to Venezuela to go see my grandparents in New York.

My dad and mom wanted to go on the subway. I was with my mom. My mom was holding my hand.

Six years old. My sister was with my dad. She was eight.

We were walking along and all of a sudden dad looks down and sees the subway open and he goes ahead and I'm walking behind with my mom. And as we mom walks a little slower than dad does. And as we get closer to where the subway is, all of a sudden the doors of the subway closed.

And I see dad walk over to the door and I see him trying to do this. To open it up. They don't move.

Once they shut, they're shut. You know, I can remember the tears flowing down my face as I saw the subway go by. And I said, I've lost dad forever.

The door's closed. I'll never see my dad again. Outside.

You know, I think the salvation store is going to close and then you will seek. But it's too late. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found.

Call upon him while he is near. Shall we pray?