The Pursuit of God (25mb)

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This is the final sermon in a ten-part series on the attributes of God. This message summarizes the lessons of the series and urges an intentional pursuit of a deep, meaningful, and personal relationship with God.

Written Excerpts:

Psalm 42:1-2; Psalm 63:8; Hosea 6:3

Introduction:

The title for today’s message is: “The Pursuit of God.” This title is borrowed from A.W. Tozer who published a small book by the same title.

I have repeatedly emphasized the fact that knowing about God is not the same as knowing God. So, today I hope to finish this series of sermons by challenging all of us to pursue God; not just a knowledge about Him.

As we wrap up this series today I just want to share two or three brief observations.

I.          The Lord seeks for us.

Ez. 34:11 “For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.”

The context includes God’s rebuke of the “shepherds” or leaders of Israel who were more concerned with their own welfare than they were for the “sheep” (i.e. people). So, God responds that He will seek for His people.

Luke 19:10 “the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

The context of this passage is the story of Zacchaeus.

Rev. 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

This passage implies a personal, intimate, inter-personal relationship.

II.        He delights in our seeking for Him.

Ps. 53:2 “God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.”

It’s as if God is longing and searching for any that will reciprocate by seeking Him.

A. Seeking Him includes obeying Him.

Throughout the books of Kings and Chronicles the Scripture records the stories of various kings in Israel who either did or did not seek the Lord. In the context of those passages, seeking the Lord usually meant that the king and the people followed the commandments and obeyed the Lord. If they did not obey the commandments then they were described as those who did not seek the Lord.

We can conclude therefore that sincerely seeking the Lord means that we want to obey Him and please Him. To state it in another form, we conclude that it is impossible for anyone to be passionate about seeking a personal and intimate relationship with the Lord and still have no desire or concern for obeying His will.

B. Seeking Him involves more than obedience.

1. While obedience is important, motivation and purpose is just as important if not more important in seeking the Lord.

2 Chron. 20:19 – King Hezekiah reinstated the Passover and invited all the people of Judah and other surrounding areas to join in the celebration. Some of the people had not satisfied all the normal requirements for ritual cleansing as required in the law, so Hezekiah prayed for them that the Lord would pardon “everyone that prepareth his heart to seek God.”

The lesson in this passage seems to be that seeking the Lord does include obeying what the Lord requires, but when knowledge of the requirements is lacking, then it is the spirit of the soul and the motivation of the heart that pleases the Lord.

It is a temptation for those of us who have walked with the Lord and studied His Word for years and tried to be obedient to His commands to be critical of others who do not have the knowledge we have.

If we are not careful, we can completely overlook or miss the true desire and motivation of younger Christians who haven’t had the knowledge of the truth. We that are older need to inspire and nurture the seed of desire that is in their hearts to seek the Lord.

2. Seeking and finding the Lord includes a level of joy and gladness in the Lord that cannot be found elsewhere.

Ps. 40:16 “Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.”

We need to distinguish here that we are not seeking an experience of joy or an experience of anything in particular, we are seeking Him. When we truly find Him and know Him, then the joy, peace and other experiences that go along with that will be there.

Conclusion:

The other day I was thinking about a couple of different extremes that I have seen among many Christians.

On the one hand I’ve seen those whom I would describe as Christians that have accepted salvation as a “fire insurance” against going to hell. They recognize the necessity of confessing their sins and putting their faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They understand that this is required in order to go to heaven and miss hell. As long as they get this “transaction” taken care of, they don’t seem to care about anything else related to living out their faith.

They really do not seem to have a strong desire to obey God’s commands or to seek God’s will. They do not seem to desire to be in His presence or with His people. They seem to be preoccupied with the same goals and pursuits as everyone else around them in the world.

On the other hand are those Christians whom I would describe as feverishly trying to do everything just right in order to satisfy God’s stringent demands. They continually deal with guilt feelings over their failure to achieve perfection in one or more areas of life. They worry and fret about not measuring up and somehow missing heaven at the end of life.

It would appear that they have never really known the joy of living in a loving relationship with Jesus. They’ve never really known the thrill of a vital, personal sense of His Spirit pouring out His love and blessing.

I pray that our series of messages have informed us more about God’s nature and being. But, more than that, I hope they have inspired each of us to want to know Him in a greater, more personal and intimate relationship through the abiding presence of His Holy Spirit.

May it be true about us as described about Peter and John in Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”

May it be our passion to live in such a way that people around us will know that we have been with Jesus.