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| Volume 25 Number 1 January 2023 |
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| Volume 25 Number 1 January 2023 |
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While He Is Near
John Stacy
An old Saxon king put down a rebellion. After the victory, he put a candle over the archway to his castle. He announced through a herald that all enemies who would surrender and take an oath of loyalty to him would be spared. However, his offer of clemency and mercy was limited to the life of the candle.
This is true of all the offers of life. They have their candle limitations. It is true of the greatest offer ever made, the offer of eternal life through Christ Jesus.
Our text is Isaiah 55:6-7. It is one of the greatest invitations ever offered. “Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon” (NKJV). Let’s take a closer look at our text.
First of all, it asks us to seek the Lord. Many spend their time seeking fame, fortune, husbands, wives and a thousand other things that will fail, betray and disappoint. People are seeking after anything and everything except God.
We must seek after God while He is near. Acts 17:27 tells us that God is not far from each one of us. God has always been calling men to come to Him. Jesus cried out, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). In the parable of the Great Supper in Luke 14, the message is, “Come, for all things are now ready” (Luke 14:17). We often sing, “All things are ready, come to the feast.” In Revelation 22:17, we read, “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”
The text also says that we are to call upon Him when He is near. In other words, take advantage of the opportunities while you have them. How do we call on the Lord? Acts 2:21 records Peter saying, “…Whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.” Acts 2:38 tells us how to call on the name of the Lord. “Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins….” Ananias told Saul, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).
My friends, there are times when it is too late to call on the Lord. On Judgment Day, Jesus will say to some religious people, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:23). Surely, the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins of Matthew 25:1-13 teaches us that the time will come when it is too late. Similarly, when God shut the door to the ark, it was too late for those outside (Genesis 7:16).
Secondly, how should we seek the Lord? Through his Word, of course! Isaiah 34:16 says, “Seek you out the book of the Lord, and read…” We must seek God in the pages of His Holy Word. Read. Study. Meditate on God’s Word (1 Timothy 4:15).
The Waldensian preachers sometimes travelled about as merchants and dealt in jewels and precious stones as a way of obtaining access to families of nobility. When they had shown their wares and were asked if they had anything else to sell, they said, "Yes. We have here a precious stone so brilliant that by its light a man may see God." Then, unwrapping the precious bundle, they brought out a Bible. It is, indeed, the most precious of all stones, for by its light man sees God and can find Him. That is the reason, the only reason for reading the Bible.
We may seek God through prayer. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Someone once said, “Let your prayers rise like a fountain day and night, for more things are wrought by prayer than this world has ever dreamed of.” One hymn says, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear; what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer, O what peace we often forfeit; O, what needless pain we bear; all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”
We should seek God through repentance. Our lesson text says, “Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord.” This is repentance! Peter preached, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). Jesus said, “…unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). God will have mercy on the penitent man. He will abundantly pardon.
Thirdly, when should we seek the Lord? We should seek the Lord when we realize that we are sinners, hell-bound and hell-bent. The Philippian jailer realized that he was lost. He said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). “So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized” (Acts 16:31-33). He knew he was lost. He believed in Christ. He had a penitent heart. He was baptized. This is how you seek the Lord.
We should seek the Lord in sickness. Hezekiah did. Isaiah came to him and told him, “…Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live” (2 Kings 20:1). Hezekiah turned to the wall and prayed; God heard his prayers and saw his tears. He gave him 15 more years to live. Sickness teaches us about our weaknesses, our littleness and our helplessness. Deathbed repentance is seldom sincere. Few, if any, ever keep their promises to God if they are allowed to get well.
We should seek God in sorrow. Sorrow is one of God’s greatest teachers. Sorrow softens the heart and purifies affections. Defiling passions often spread their wings and fly away in the midst of sorrow. Souls are often moved much closer to God because of sorrow. David’s sorrow over the loss of a son born to him and Bathsheba, along with sorrow for his sins, led him back to God. Psalm 51 has been called the penitential Psalm. In it, we see David’s sorrow, and in it, we see him drawing near to God again. James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” David did and God did.
