Faithful
02-13-2011, 05:28 AM
GOD SEEKS MEN
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God; they have all turned aside, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not so much as one. (Rom 3. 11-12)
For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19. 10)
We do praise and thank God, for it is not we who love God, but God has first loved us. According to Romans 3. 11-12, there is none who seeks after God. And in Luke 19. 10 we are told by the Lord Jesus himself that “the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” We thank God because he has not commanded us, as He did the people of the Old Testament time, to approach Him by bringing sheep and bullocks with them. Instead, He has set His tabernacle among us through His own Son so that we may draw near to Him.
None of us dares to say that we seek after God and salvation on our own initiative. I have worked among unbelievers for some time, and I have yet to meet one who has himself sought God. Mr. Paget Wilkes said that he had preached to tens of thousands of people in Japan but had never met one person who sought after God.
There is none in the world who is for the Lord. Only the Lord is for men. This is indeed grace. This is the gospel. Do the idol-worshippers seek after God? No, they seek after their own welfare. Some hope for success in business, while some expect to have peace in the family. What they seek after is blessing. They seek not for God but for that which is God’s. Yet what God seeks after are persons such as we are. What men look for are the grace, the peace, and the
blessing of God. What God looks for are we ourselves, not what is ours. Let us break forth in praises and thanks before God today. How good God has treated us! It is something beyond our expectation!
“And this, not as we had hoped, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God” (2 Cor. 8. 5). Do we notice here how God desires us? He is not greedy. Does He covet the wealth of the rich? No, He wants you and me. None seeks after God. What men expect are the peace and blessing of God. But God seeks us. Though no one seeks Him, God nonetheless seeks us.
Suppose God wants something from you. What can you give Him? You and I have nothing at all to give. That which God looks for are men and women. It is well if a person is saved, for this is what God desires. Before you were saved, you lived in the world without the Saviour. You had never thought of eternal life, nor did you ever think of the future destiny. You might have heard of God, but you wanted to have nothing to do with Him. You might even have hated Him without cause. Nonetheless, thank God, He has saved you! He loved you and me so much as to send His only begotten Son to the world to seek and save us. His Son gave up His life and shed His blood to redeem us.
We do not start out as the prodigal son. We begin as the lost sheep sought after first by the shepherd. In Luke 15, there are three parables: one concerning a shepherd who lost a sheep, who then went out to find it; another about a woman who lost one piece of silver, and who then swept the house to recover it; and a third that related the story of a father who received a repentant, prodigal son back home. Figuratively speaking, therefore, we see first, the Saviour who came to seek you; next, the Holy Spirit who enlightens you; and finally, the Father who receives you back. Praise and thank God, He has sought us and saved us.
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God; they have all turned aside, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not so much as one. (Rom 3. 11-12)
For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19. 10)
We do praise and thank God, for it is not we who love God, but God has first loved us. According to Romans 3. 11-12, there is none who seeks after God. And in Luke 19. 10 we are told by the Lord Jesus himself that “the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” We thank God because he has not commanded us, as He did the people of the Old Testament time, to approach Him by bringing sheep and bullocks with them. Instead, He has set His tabernacle among us through His own Son so that we may draw near to Him.
None of us dares to say that we seek after God and salvation on our own initiative. I have worked among unbelievers for some time, and I have yet to meet one who has himself sought God. Mr. Paget Wilkes said that he had preached to tens of thousands of people in Japan but had never met one person who sought after God.
There is none in the world who is for the Lord. Only the Lord is for men. This is indeed grace. This is the gospel. Do the idol-worshippers seek after God? No, they seek after their own welfare. Some hope for success in business, while some expect to have peace in the family. What they seek after is blessing. They seek not for God but for that which is God’s. Yet what God seeks after are persons such as we are. What men look for are the grace, the peace, and the
blessing of God. What God looks for are we ourselves, not what is ours. Let us break forth in praises and thanks before God today. How good God has treated us! It is something beyond our expectation!
“And this, not as we had hoped, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God” (2 Cor. 8. 5). Do we notice here how God desires us? He is not greedy. Does He covet the wealth of the rich? No, He wants you and me. None seeks after God. What men expect are the peace and blessing of God. But God seeks us. Though no one seeks Him, God nonetheless seeks us.
Suppose God wants something from you. What can you give Him? You and I have nothing at all to give. That which God looks for are men and women. It is well if a person is saved, for this is what God desires. Before you were saved, you lived in the world without the Saviour. You had never thought of eternal life, nor did you ever think of the future destiny. You might have heard of God, but you wanted to have nothing to do with Him. You might even have hated Him without cause. Nonetheless, thank God, He has saved you! He loved you and me so much as to send His only begotten Son to the world to seek and save us. His Son gave up His life and shed His blood to redeem us.
We do not start out as the prodigal son. We begin as the lost sheep sought after first by the shepherd. In Luke 15, there are three parables: one concerning a shepherd who lost a sheep, who then went out to find it; another about a woman who lost one piece of silver, and who then swept the house to recover it; and a third that related the story of a father who received a repentant, prodigal son back home. Figuratively speaking, therefore, we see first, the Saviour who came to seek you; next, the Holy Spirit who enlightens you; and finally, the Father who receives you back. Praise and thank God, He has sought us and saved us.