This generation would like to get to heaven, but they just haven't got time. They had time to make a profession and join the church, but they just haven't got time to seek the Lord. When I started out thirty-six years ago, people would come hear me preach and I could build a crowd and keep it for a while, and in that way somebody would listen to the Word of God. And since no man has saving faith, and God has to give it to men, He gives it as men hear His Word. That's why they need to hear the Word, and after a while they say that's God talking. That's how a person gets saved. But now they don't have time to hear the Word long enough to know that is God talking. You must hear the law of God preached long enough for God to reveal to you that you are a guilty lost sinner before you will be interested in hearing the good news of the Gospel of Christ. If God can get you lost, He will save you. Remember that everybody that God promised Abraham is going to be saved. If God can get you still long enough to let a little of His Word sink in and grant you repentance and faith, He will save you. If you don't have time to seek the Lord till He is pleased to reveal Himself to you and speak peace to you, why you will just live a little while, then go to hell.
You haven't had time to hear what this says: a personal confrontation of the soul by a gracious redeeming God; this leads to repentance and faith, this leads to the terminating of a self-centered existence, and the beginning of a Christ indwelled life. That's what it means to be saved. I don't know how long it will take you to get saved, but it would be time well spent if you got to Christ. Wouldn't it? In the book of Acts a man said: "What must I do to be saved?" And the answer was: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. "But this answer wasn't given to anybody unless the work of grace had already begun and they were in a repentance stage, just dying to be saved. But God is saying to all people, "Seek the Lord." How long? Till you find Him. Every Christian will testify to these words. "I sought the Lord" and afterwards I knew, He moved my soul to seek Him, seeking me; I find, I walk, I love, but Oh! the whole of love is, but my answer Lord for Thee, for Thou was long beforehand with my soul, always Thou lovest me. That is the testimony in the heart of every child of God.
God didn't set out to save everybody. He set out to save everybody that He promised Abraham. He made a covenent with Abraham. Galatians 3:14 says: "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."
The Gospel is just a covenant that God made with Abraham. Verse 16: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."
God is not going to lose anyone He promised Abraham. The Gospel is Christ, and Christ is the Gospel; and salvation is Christ, and Christ is salvation. Salvation is a gift, but it is the gift of a person, and that person is Christ. People want to get saved, but they don't want to have anything to do with Jesus Christ. But you walk with Him or go to hell.
Christ, but knowing Him that counts, and you can only know Him by a divine revelation. Matthew 11:27: "All things are delivered unto Me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him."
It is not admiring Christ, but a vital devotion to Him and a complete surrender to a Sovereign Christ. To know Christ is to experience Him and to experience Him is power, the power of a changed life comes from Him Who sits on a throne. To know Christ is to love Him, and to love Him is to serve Him in utter loyalty and devotion.
Somewhere down the line in order to accommodate ourselves to this damnable stuff they have called the Gospel for sixty years, we have invented some terms. He is a consecrated Christian, there ain't no other kind; if you don't love the Lord with all your heart, you are not saved. If you do not serve Him with utter loyalty and devotion, you are not saved. We ought to start telling people the truth and stop speaking peace when there is no peace. Most preachers are deceiving people and they are on the road to hell. God says: "My sheep hear my voice and they follow Me." Those who come to know and experience Christ are those who are seekers after Him.
Psalm 24:3: "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?"
The question is: Who is going to heaven? Verses 4-6: "He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek Him ...."
Men and women who have been operated on and clothed with the righteousness of Christ, and their lives now are following the paths that God predestined for them before they were born. Ephesians 2:10 says: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
You do not choose your manner of living, it has been chosen for you if you are a Christian. Do you believe that? That takes care of the outward conduct, and then the blood of Jesus Christ, on the basis of it, God gives us a new heart, and purifies it daily by the Word. If you are a Christian, you go to the Word every day and those who don't love the Word, don't love the Lord and are on the road to hell.
God says: "Seek the Lord, while He may be found. "He invites men to seek the Lord. God does lots more than just invite men to seek the Lord. Acts 17:24-28: "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us: For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring."
This unknown God, the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is unknown to most American people. He is a God of power. You can touch Him in faith, and life from Him will come into you, then you will live a transformed life. There will be a difference from the way you used to live, as daylight is from dark. This unknown God made the world and everything in it. He is the Lord, the Master, the Dictator, the Ruler of heaven and earth. He doesn't dwell in a temple made with hands. He gave you life, breath, and everything you got. God did all these things that they should seek the Lord.
God sure went to a lot of trouble to induce you to seek the Lord. If we don't spend our lives seeking the Lord, we've missed the way. The New Testament teaches us that it is a daily feeding on God's Word, praying and seeking the Lord. Jesus said in Luke 13:24: "Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
Psalm 63:1: "O God, thou art my God,' early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is."
Psalm 42:1-2: "As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God."
That is a description of a child of God, but not this generation of self-satisfied people who have been told that they have been converted, who have no hunger and thirst for Almighty God every day of their lives. But men and women who have tasted of Him, and He is good, and they will never get too much of God. Men and women who seek Him, and He is the face they want to look into the first thing in the morning and the last One they want to see as they close their eyes when they sleep at night.
Why should men seek the Lord? Because God has commanded it, and that is your only hope of ever finding Him. In this desperate day, I beg you to seek the Lord while He may be found; seek a vital meeting with Him, seek to meet God in Jesus Christ. Seek Him until He speaks peace to thee, and you have the knowledge that He has given you true repentance and faith; and you are now a new creature in Christ. He still gives peace that the world cannot give nor take away. And you are a fool if you take anybody's word for your salvation except His. Romans 8:16: "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." Don't you call yourself a Christian until He gives you the knowledge of your sins forgiven and He speaks peace to you. He is alive and He still deals with seeking men and women.
We are living in a day when preachers have said that salvation is by decision; which is a lie, salvation according to the Scriptures is by divine revelation. John 17:3 says; "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou has sent."
Luke 10:22: "All things are delivered to Me of my Father: and no man knoweth Who the Son is, but the Father,' and Who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him."
Faith is Christ made real in you, faith is a gift of God. Ephesians 2:8: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."
This is a day not of faith but of presumption. I ask you "Are you a Christian?" You start telling me what you've done. I didn't ask you what you had done. A Christian is a product of God's grace. A Christian is a result of what God has done; He is always the giver and we are the receiver. There is no merit in receiving; you wouldn't brag about receiving, would you?
Preachers are telling people to accept Jesus as their Saviour and they are saved. According to the Scriptures, that is not true. You have to surrender to Jesus as your Lord, and as your Lord, He saves you by establishing His blessed rule in your life. We must give God the glory. Salvation is of the Lord. We are to say, "I am a Christian because God saved me. All I did was to benefit; He did all the dying and shed His blood to make atonement for my sins; He did all the giving, and all I could do was to receive." What most people have done is to accept an unknown Christ. He has never been revealed to your heart. And there is no power in your life because you don't have Christ. But faith is Christ revealed to your inmost being, and you know Him and love Him, and you obey Him.
This is the day of presumption and not the day of faith. This is the day when men and women seek every thing except the One God ordained for you to seek and that is the Lord. Preachers today have taught that sinners have the ability to believe with their own wills, thus they do not call on men and women to seek the Lord. But sinners do not have the ability to believe in Christ. God has to make them able; He does it as you hear the Word preached in the power of the Holy Ghost. You had better seek Him; He alone purchased saving faith for His people. Faith is a gift, it is His to give; He bought it with His blood, you haven't got it. Seek Him and cry to God for mercy; that is a good way to get saved. This generation of people have been taught that God has done His part and, "Now it is up to you to do your part." That is a lie of hell. God did His part, thank God for it and He is still working, but it isn't up to you. All you can do is seek the Lord. You can't save yourself; you can't give yourself faith, you can't work repentance in your heart. Faith and repentance are gifts from God. Ephesians 2:8: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." Acts 5:30-31: "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, Whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." We are all eternity-bound men and women, and unless God Almighty is pleased to perform a miracle in you and reveals Christ in you, you are doomed for hell. We are in the hands of a God Who is a merciful God, and Who delighteth in mercy. Praise the Lord. Psalm 103:8: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy."
Micah 7:18: "Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever, because He delighteth in mercy."
He is a God Who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Ezekiel 33:11 says: "Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?"
And He went to the trouble of creating a world and fixing the place where you live, and He gave His only begotten Son to hang on the cross, and raised Him from the dead, and sent the Holy Ghost, and established His church, and sent His Gospel out, so you would seek the Lord, if haply you might feel after Him and find Him. Seek Him, my friend. He purchased every blessed gift that God has for men with His own precious blood. He bought faith; He bought repentance; He bought holiness; He bought everything by laying down His life. Everything that God gives men and women that is good, He gives it because Christ purchased it with His precious blood.
Where shall sinners seek the Lord? Seek Him at the place of supreme desire. You will never find Him unless you want Him supremely – want Him. Not this damnable stuff about wanting something out of Him, but wanting Him. Not this business of using Him as a fire escape from hell, but seeking Him. He is the Lily of the Valley. He's the bright and morning star; He's the fairest of ten thousand; everybody ought to know Who Jesus is. Seek Him.
This is God's world and God's purposes cannot be defeated. And I am happy in the Lord and I would love for you to be in Him, but I can't put you in Christ, but the Holy Spirit can. You must seek Him with all your heart or you will never know Him. Jeremiah 29:13 says: "And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart."
If you ever find Him you will know that before you ever sought Him, He sought you. You seek Him with all your heart. You haven't got time to do that, have you? Most folks haven't. I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today. This will be your cry when you are seeking Him. You will be willing to give up everything for Him and surrender your all to Him.
Seek Him humbly at the feet of a sovereign God, not trying to bargain with Him, but ask Him for redeeming grace and faith; knowing that He alone can give it, you can't. There is danger here and I speak with fear and trembling. I want to set forth a Sovereign God and an unworthy sinner; but praise God the Sovereign God that ruleth in the heavens is a redeeming God Who so loved the world that He hung His only Son on a cross to die for sinners. Seek Him saying, "Lord God, I've got no claims, but if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me whole." Seek Him with supreme desire, seek Him humbly at His feet; seek Him in the appointed way, and surrender your all to Him to do with you as it pleases Him. He is our only hope.
Two men went up to the Temple to pray. The publican prayed in the appointed way. He smote upon his breast, saying, "God be merciful to me a sinner," and this man went down to his house justified. You must come in a repentant state with your face toward Calvary. For Christ Who is now on a throne is on a Throne now because He was on a cross. You can't bypass the cross and you can't bypass the Throne. You come by way of a cross pleading one thing: the shed blood of Jesus Christ. No man can come to the Throne of grace except on the merit of the blood of Christ. And when you come, stay there until a union of peace has been made between you and a living God, and He speaks to you, and you know that your sins are forgiven and you know that instead of guilt you have peace. Take nobody else's word for it, except His". Come to the Altar of the cross. That is the only Altar there is, but don't trust the Altar. Come by way of the blood of Christ, the broken body of Christ, that is the Altar. Stay there, look into the face of Him on the Throne until He does His work in you. Salvation is not believing some facts, but salvation is being united to a person, that person is Christ. Stay there until you and He have been made one. Seek Him until you are joined to Him, for you cannot have the benefits of His shed blood without having Him – Christ in you, the hope of glory.
For He is so precious to me, so precious is Jesus, my Saviour and King. Amen!
"Blessed Father, we come to Thee in the precious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, thanking You for the Holy Ghost Who pricked our heart and revealed to us that we were a guilty lost sinner and put us under Holy Ghost conviction of sin. This caused me to become a beggar of mercy and a seeker of the Lord; and when I cried unto Thee, you drew me to the Lord Jesus Christ and revealed to me that He is the Son of the living God and He is my Lord and Saviour. Blessed Lord Jesus, please speak to every one who reads this message, that they will become a seeker of the Lord and a beggar of mercy. We ask this in Your Name that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Amen!"