Seek Ye First

[0:00] 2nd Chronicles, 2nd Chronicles 15. If you're wondering where that is, go to Psalm and start working your way backwards.

[0:12] 2nd Chronicles chapter 15. 2nd Chronicles 15, look with me at verse 2.

[0:30] 2nd Chronicles 15, verse 2. And he went out to meet Asa and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you, while ye be with him.

[0:42] And if ye seek him, he will be found of you. But if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. Asa, the Lord is with you, while ye be with him.

[0:55] And if ye seek him, he will be found of you. What does it mean to seek the Lord? Last week, when we were having our communion time, before we had our communion time and I was preaching, I talked about God seeking us.

[1:12] And I gave you different references about God seeking us. Today I want to talk about us seeking him. He says, seek ye first the kingdom of God.

[1:22] Do you know that verse? There's somebody's windshield out there. I got the one taken care of over here with the mat, so I don't get blinded by that one. But there's a windshield out there right now that's, whoa.

[1:33] And the sun is bright. So anyway, stand over here. I'm going to swap things around today. Bible's on this side, notes on this side. All right. What does it mean to seek God?

[1:46] What does it mean to seek God? To look for him. To search for him. To be in need of him. To want to spend time in his presence.

[2:01] To be ready to look at God's word eagerly. Let's stop right there for a second. To look at God's word eagerly. Is that a thing that you look forward to?

[2:15] Getting into God's word? To be happy to communion with him in prayer. Is that something you're eager to do? To get together with him in prayer? Or do you find it a struggle?

[2:28] You know, it's easier to seek God when you know who he is. And that's kind of what we're going to talk a little bit about today. Is seeking him to find out who he is.

[2:39] Seeking him to find out all we can about him, his purpose, his plan, and what he has for us. And it's easier to do that when our hope and our trust is only in him.

[2:54] We try to put so much trust in other things. We need to trust the Savior. So this morning, we're going to look at nine different verses. I'll have them up behind me so I won't have to make you flip all the time.

[3:06] But nine different verses about seeking God. Let's have a word of prayer before we look at those. Do you have any, Father? Father, I just thank you for a chance this morning, Lord, to stop and consider the fact that we need to be seeking for God.

[3:22] We may have found you for salvation. But as we preached a few weeks ago about the things that accompany salvation, Lord, there should be things that accompany our search for you.

[3:35] It's not just finding you to have salvation and then go on from there and hope someday we'll be in heaven with you. But, Lord, to seek you every day. To have audience with you every day.

[3:47] Lord, I pray that you would just help us to see the importance of seeking God. of being with you, of fellowshipping with you every day.

[4:00] Lord, help us in this service this morning to draw closer to you. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. First of all, we need to seek God with a loyal heart and a willing mind.

[4:14] With a loyal heart and a willing mind. In 1 Chronicles, chapter 28, in verse 9, it says, And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind.

[4:35] For the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee. But if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever.

[4:49] Here's David, king of Israel, the man after God's own heart. He's teaching Solomon, his son, about the important things in life. And what does he tell Solomon the first thing to do is?

[5:02] Get to know God. Know him for who he is. We should value the importance and the urgency of knowing God.

[5:16] If you want your life to be what it's supposed to be, if you want it to fulfill the purpose for God and why God has you here, you have to know him. You have to spend time with him. You have to understand what he is telling you and saying to you about how to live your life and what to do with your life.

[5:32] We have to understand him for who he is. And only when we know him will we live for him. It's hard for us. You know, those of you who are married couples, you've taken years to get to know the person.

[5:48] You start to understand. You start to know how to help them and to love them and to show them and everything. We need to do the same with God.

[5:58] And that comes after spending day after day after day with him and getting to know him. You know, we need to come with him with a, it says, a loyal heart and a willing mind.

[6:10] We have to come to him without having to be, you need to be in the word of God. You need to be, you know, some preacher standing up here telling you that. You should do that already because of your love for him and because you're loyal to him.

[6:24] You should do it because one of the things that sometimes bothers me, I understand why we do it.

[6:35] But you know how a lot of times we have contests and things for kids and stuff. And I think of Awana and memorizing all those verses, memorizing, memorizing, memorizing. They do it, you know, for the wrong reasons.

[6:52] They do it because someone's compelling them, because somebody, they want to look good in front of others. We should do it because we love him. Because we're loyal to him and we have a willing mind.

[7:05] We should do it. Here's God. How do we treat the Almighty? How do we treat the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God?

[7:21] We can't treat him like we would treat others. We can't treat him like we would treat men. We can't pretend to live a life that's pleasing to him. He knows because he searches the hearts and he knows what's going on.

[7:34] He understands our motives. He understands our thoughts. To know God and to serve him, we have to seek him and who he is. He says, look, when disaster strikes, when things get tough, do we have a relationship with him already?

[7:57] Or do we just kind of ignore him and ignore him and ignore him and then all of a sudden something happens and, God, I need you. I've been right here all the time.

[8:09] Where have you been? God is always there for us. As that song said, it's not an easy road. But he is always with us, walking beside us.

[8:19] We have a loving God who is patient. But we need to know him. We need to be able to spend time with him daily.

[8:31] And so David's saying to his son Solomon, look, Solomon, get to know God. Read his word. Spend time in prayer with him. Get to know him willingly and do it out of loyalty to him.

[8:44] Second thing, seek God's kingdom and his righteousness. By the title, you knew I was going to get to this one. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.

[9:00] When should we seek him? First. Not after things happen. We should be seeking him first. So that we're ready and we have a relationship and we have ammunition when things come along.

[9:12] Because we've been spending time with him. But so often we try to do things in our own strength. Use our own knowledge, our own influence, things of that nature. We try to do things on our own. We have God there with us.

[9:27] Who will help us. So when should we do it? First. What should we seek? The kingdom of God. We don't live in this world.

[9:39] Remember when we were talking about the things that accompany salvation? What was number one? Citizenship in heaven. We have citizenship in heaven. We're not of this world.

[9:53] So, what do we have? We seek because we're part of the kingdom of God. And because of his righteousness. His righteousness. Right standing before God.

[10:05] Why do we do this? All these things shall be added unto you. I need this. Or I need that. Or I need the other thing. God says, seek ye first the king of God.

[10:18] And all these things shall be added unto you. Notice I said I need this. And I need this. And I need this. I didn't say I want this. And I want this. And I want this. I said I need this. God knows us.

[10:29] He knows what we need. He knows what's good for us. He knows what's best for us. We need to trust him. We sometimes kind of expect him to do things for us.

[10:40] And no, he says, seek me first. And then all these things shall be added unto you. Are we seeking him first? It's important that we do that.

[10:53] Number three. Seek God's strength and face. Seek God's strength and face. First Chronicles chapter 16, verses 10 and 11.

[11:06] Glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face continually.

[11:18] Seek the Lord. Seek his strength and seek his face. Seek the Lord. You know, there is Christians today.

[11:32] There seems to be a lot of sadness, a lot of depression, a lot of despair, a lot of. Could it be because we're not seeking his face? We're not seeking his strength.

[11:44] We're trying to do it on our own. You know, I get concerned of how much I see Christians always down in the dumps.

[11:56] Always thinking the worst of things. It's like, no. I have an almighty God who can do anything. I have an almighty God who will take care of me.

[12:08] I have a Father in heaven who loves me. And he's going to watch out for me. And yes, again, it's not an easy road.

[12:20] He's with me all the time. We need to seek his strength, not our own. We try to do so much in our own strength. I've got this.

[12:31] I can take care of this. I can handle this. No. We need his strength. I have a bachelor's degree and a master's degree.

[12:43] I know things. You know what I learned after I graduated from college with those degrees? You get out in the real world talking with people, you know nothing.

[12:54] You get the school of hard knocks and you get the school of education being around other people. And learning the things that are going on in their lives. Learn the things that they're talking about. Learn how they're facing things. And you say, I have no answers for them.

[13:08] Well, that's great. You're right where you belong because now you go to God and say, God, I know you got the answers. No, it's not our education that helps us.

[13:18] It is God that helps us. Oh, I don't have to worry about this, that, or the other thing because I got money in the bank. If you're like the typical person, you've got five bucks in your savings account.

[13:32] We got money in the bank. We got this and we can take care of this and that. And no, money is not the answer to everything that takes place in our life either. Family. I got family. I got so many family members.

[13:44] The church I grew up in over in Heartland, even to this day, I'm finding out people who are related to one another that I had no clue. But somewhere along the way, they're all related to one another.

[13:55] And so you get this whole church full of family. No problem. I don't know if you've been around family before or if you have family. Family doesn't always get along.

[14:07] Sometimes there's problems there. So having family is good, but they don't always, they're not always the answer to the question. We need not to rely on our own strength or our education or wealth or any of those things.

[14:26] Come to God for strength. He says, come to him. You seek him for strength. And then it says you should seek his face. Always. Seek his face.

[14:39] You know, times of need, we often seek help from others. Family, friends, whatever. We're tempted to think, oh, if I could just talk to this person, they'd know what to say.

[14:53] They'd help me. If I could just get this person's input, I'd be all set. Seek God's face.

[15:04] The ultimate answers are there. God answers the questions. God is the answer to the questions that we have in life. We're not capable of doing everything, but God is.

[15:17] He says, look, seek my face all the time. Number four. He says, seek God's word. Seek God's word.

[15:29] Ezra. Ezra. Chapter 7, verse 10. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach in Israel's statutes and judgments.

[15:43] Preparing your heart to seek God's word. Do you notice that's what it said? Ezra prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord. He prepared his heart to go and hear the word of God.

[15:55] He prepared his heart to go and read the word of God. Do you prepare your heart for the things that you're going to hear from the word of God? You have your daily devotions.

[16:08] Do you prepare your heart? Take a minute. Just let all the other stuff of the world go. Spend some time in prayer with him. Get your heart prepared to hear his word and what he has to say to you.

[16:20] You've got problems going on. Lord, I need help in this area and that area. Lord, I'm about to go into your word. Show me things that are going to help me. It says he prepared his heart.

[16:35] One of the things I like that people have started doing, and they did it on their own, it was not my thing. As a matter of fact, I stay away from it and let them do it. But there's some ladies and some men who get together before Sunday school.

[16:49] And they pray. For this service. They pray for the Sunday school time. They pray for this service. I'm glad that they took the initiative to do that. I'm glad that they took it upon themselves.

[17:02] To go before God. To prepare this time that we have together here. If you're trusting in me to do things and to give you things, you're in for a rude awakening.

[17:14] But they're praying for me. The Holy Spirit come into me. And to give you what he has for you. Yes, I prepare throughout the week and I make sure I'm ready when I get up here.

[17:27] I've got outlines and things and stuff. But if the message is going to get through, it's God's doing. If the message is going to be understood by you, it's God's doing. Are you prepared for what God is going to show you today?

[17:41] God's going to look at the motive. He's going to know the intents and stuff. He's going to look at the heart. He says, look, come with the right motive. Come with the right intent.

[17:51] Come to learn what God has to say to you today. To seek God, we need to come into his presence. Read his word.

[18:03] Communion with him. You know, when we have our time with the Lord and we get in his word and everything and we read it, it's not just to please him. It's not just to do it out of compulsion.

[18:16] You should have your devotions every day. Preachers get up there and you should have your devotions every day. If you're not spending time, we should be coming to God's word because it is a time of joy.

[18:28] A time of learning. A time of listening to what he has to say to us. A time for him to give us instruction into what his purpose and his will is for us.

[18:41] We should come because we value the reading of God's word. We should come because we value what he has to say to us. It's not just enough to read it though.

[18:54] You notice what else it says in that verse? He prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it. And to do it.

[19:06] He prepared his heart so that when he came to God's word, he read it and said, God says I should do this. I am going to do this. God says I should do that.

[19:18] I am going to do that. Because that's what God's word says to me and that's what God's word has for me. See, when we read God's word, it should impact our lifestyle, our talk, our actions, our behavior, our thinking, our walk.

[19:32] We need to do it. We need to do it. We need to do it. We need to do it. Everything. To be impacted by God's word as we read it. As we come prepared to hear what it says, we need to come prepared to do it and follow it.

[19:45] So that when we go out, we can impact believers. Because we're able to give them counsel. We're able to help them.

[19:55] We're able to direct them. You know, I was reading this this morning and here's what God has for me. And we should take it so that we can impact non-believers. How are they going to get saved?

[20:07] Well, you tell them about Jesus. Where do you get the information about Jesus from? God's word. How do you show them information about Jesus? God's word.

[20:18] So we take it and we take it into ourselves to do what he has asked us to do, which is take the gospel message to those around us. Excuse me.

[20:29] Number five. Seek God's wisdom and understanding. See, that's what I do when I try to do when I come here on Sunday mornings and Wednesdays and Sunday afternoons. When I come into service, God, give me your wisdom, your understanding as I'm preparing.

[20:44] And give me your understanding and your wisdom as I deliver the message. Lord, help me to know exactly what to say. Help me to know how to say it. Help me to show me where to put the emphasis on different things.

[20:56] Show me what you have for me. Psalm 14.2. The Lord looked down from heaven above. Let's try that again. Looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God.

[21:11] He says he's looking down to find out if there are people who understand and seek God. The thing we need to understand most is that we need to seek God and we need to understand who he is.

[21:25] See, God's looking down. Reminds me of the story of the prodigal son. You remember the father in that story? He would go to the top of the hill day after day looking for the son to return to him.

[21:44] And then one day he gets up there and sees the son coming. God is looking for us to come. Remember I talked last week about him seeking us? He's looking for us to come to him.

[21:58] Put our trust in him. Follow him. And when he says the children of men there in that verse, he's talking about the whole world. God wants the whole world to come and follow him. They're not all doing that.

[22:09] But that's his desire. That's what he wants. He wants us all to come. The good news, the gospel, is preached everywhere. And in these last days, you think about the access we have.

[22:25] Through internet, media, all kinds of ways. That we can share that gospel message with those around us. Are we doing it?

[22:37] He wants to know if people understand. And seek him. Understand his amazing love. Understand the mercy and grace that he has given to us.

[22:50] To understand the sacrifice that he made. And the path that he went to the cross. And climbing Mount Calvary. The forgiveness that he gave there on the cross. The power of his blood.

[23:03] The gift of salvation. The hope of eternal life. He has given us so much. Do we understand and seek him.

[23:15] For all that he has done for us. You know. Sadly. A lot of Christians. Do not view God in that way.

[23:29] They don't look at it from that perspective. They look at it. As I talked again about. When we were talking about things that accompany salvation. God. Jesus died on the cross. He rose again.

[23:40] So that I could be saved. I believe that. So I can go to heaven. What about everything now? What's going on now? What happens now?

[23:52] I got saved. I believe in Christ. I trust him. For my salvation. I plan to go to heaven one day. But what am I doing now? We need to make sure we put our trust in him.

[24:06] And follow him. Follow his. Plan for us. Number six. Seek God's supply. And provision. Seek God's supply.

[24:18] And provision. Psalm 34. 10. Psalm 34. 10. The young lions do lack. And suffer hunger. But they that seek the Lord.

[24:28] Shall not want any good thing. The young lions do lack. And suffer hunger. But they that seek the Lord. Shall not want any good thing. I don't want any good things.

[24:39] I just want bad things. Is that what that means? No. That means we shall not lack. We shall not be wanting. Because God is supplying. The good things that we need.

[24:50] And the good things that we want. See. Lions. King of the jungle. Right? Lions. They're powerful. They're quick. They can go out.

[25:01] And they can take care of anything. That's a problem to them. And young lions. Are even more powerful. And more quick. They can take care of just about anything.

[25:11] That gives them any problem whatsoever. God's word says. The young lions. May lack food. They may go hungry. They may go without eating.

[25:23] There's a drought. There's some kind of problem. But he says. Those that seek the Lord. Shall not lack any good thing. They that seek the Lord. He will meet their needs.

[25:36] He will take care of them. And he is going to meet all kinds of needs. Spiritual and material needs. He will take care of you. He's going to take care of you.

[25:48] In the fact that. He's going to help you. To meet his plan. And his purpose. For your life. Anything you need to do. What God needs you to do. He is going to supply. He's going to give it to you.

[26:01] You know. He knows what's best for us. And he will supply. What is best for us. What we need. Number seven.

[26:13] We have not time here. This one sounds weird. Seek God's things. Things. Things. Colossians. Chapter three.

[26:24] Verses one through three. If you then be risen with Christ. Seek those things. Which are above. Where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above.

[26:36] Not on things on the earth. For you are dead. And your life is hid with Christ in God. As God's children. We are to seek the things. Which are above. See we get our sights set on things down here.

[26:51] I need the things. That are from above. I need the things. That God has for me. I often use my. The illustration. You know. My Lamborghini.

[27:05] Do I need a Lamborghini? I set my affection on things down here. No. I don't need one. I need something. That will get me from point A.

[27:15] To point B. That could be a World War II Jeep. You know. As long as it's still running. What I need.

[27:26] God is going to supply for me. Now he's got. He's going to treat me better than that. Because I'm his child. But he will give me the things. That I need.

[27:38] We need to set our mind. Not on this world. And what this world has to offer. We need to set our mind on that world. Where God is. Where the Father is.

[27:49] We should never compare our lives to other people in this world. How often do you find yourself doing that? Oh I wish I had. Like so and so. I wish I could do like so.

[28:01] Bonnie has a couple of her students. Did not make piano lessons this week. Because it was vacation week. From school. The poor kids. I feel bad for them.

[28:12] They had such a rough week being on vacation. Because they were on cruises. I mean these kids are 8, 9, 10 years old. And I'm going. I'm 67.

[28:23] I've never been on a cruise. These kids are 9, 10. They're not on a cruise. And you could go. Why them and not me? You know what?

[28:35] It's not my concern. I'm looking at things above. I'm looking at what God has for me. What God wants me to do. We should be kingdom minded. What should we be thinking about?

[28:48] What was Philippians. I don't have it up there. But Philippians 4, 8 says. You know the things that are true. Honest. Just. Pure. Lovely. Good report. Think on these things. He says.

[28:59] That's what I should be thinking about. That's what I should be aiming for. I should seek God. So that I have those things in my life. If I have the things that are true. Honest.

[29:09] Just. Pure. Lovely. And a good report. Lord. I have everything that I need. I have things that will do me. My life good. I have things that will. Will. Improve my life.

[29:21] I don't need all those other things. You know. I look at some of these. Basketball players and others. And they'll show up. You know. On Facebook. They'll show pictures of their mansions.

[29:34] And I'm like. Wow. Look at that. One. He has. Full size basketball court. Tennis courts. Bowling alley. Swimming pool.

[29:45] Bust all the bedrooms and everything. And stuff. And it's like. Who cleans all that? That's the way I think. Who cleans all that? Be careful.

[29:58] To keep your focus on things above. Because above. I have a mansion up there. And I don't have to clean it. There's no dust. Number eight.

[30:10] Seek God's presence. Seek God's presence. If you're still there in 2 Chronicles. Chapter 15. Look at verse 2 again. And he went out to meet Asa.

[30:20] And said unto him. Hear ye me Asa. And all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you. And will be with thee. And with. And ye. Let's try that again. While ye be with him.

[30:33] And if ye seek him. He will be found of you. But if ye forsake him. He will forsake you. I feel like I'm going to sneeze.

[30:45] The Lord's presence. To have the Lord's presence with us. To seek to be in his presence. All the time.

[30:55] He says. I'll make myself available to you. If you seek me. I will be there with you. If you will follow me. I will be there. He says.

[31:08] You want to enjoy friendship with me. You want to be in my presence. He says. Look. Walk closer to me. Every day. Come walk with me.

[31:20] And that. Not an easy road. Will become. A very joyful road. It may not be easy. But know that God is walking with me. Every step of the way.

[31:30] I'm going through. And this thing happens. And that thing happens. And trying to draw me off. And trying. And I can just say. Lord. What do I do about this? Lord. Will you take care of that? Thank you.

[31:41] Okay. I walk with him. And let him take care of things. Presence. Of the Lord.

[31:51] Is the most precious thing. We can possibly have. To walk with him. And see. His blessing. His help. His protection. His favor. His peace. His prosperity.

[32:03] His promises. His promises. I've got him. With me. Every step of the way. To have his presence. He says. But that only comes by. You seeking me. You following me.

[32:15] Number nine. God's reward. God's reward. You know. I'm talking about all this. About seeking him. And all these different things.

[32:26] That we can get. But then he tops it off with. You know what? You follow me. You seek me. I'm going to give you a reward. Hebrews. 11. 6. But without faith.

[32:37] It is impossible. To please him. For he that cometh to God. Must believe that he is. And that he is a rewarder. Of them. That diligently. Seek him. He's a rewarder.

[32:48] Of them. That diligently. Seek him. When we. Diligently. Seek him. What's going to happen? Our faith. Our belief.

[32:58] In him. Is going to increase. As we watch. What he does. And how he meets needs. And how he takes care of us. As we read his word. And we see how he's acted. Throughout history. And the things that he has done.

[33:10] For others. We understand. He will do those things for us. We should have a life. That pleases him. We will have. If we're seeking him. I said.

[33:22] The Bible says. Without faith. Without belief. It's impossible. To please him. So you've got to be growing. In your faith. And watching what he does. He says.

[33:34] Look. Seek him diligently. What's the opposite. Of diligently. Lazy.

[33:45] Casual. Not serious. How many Christians. Do you know. They're like that. They claim to know. The Lord Jesus Christ. As their Savior. They will say.

[33:56] They're on their way to heaven. They don't. But they're lazy. And they're casual. What's the other word I use? Not serious. About their walk with him. They don't spend time with him.

[34:09] And they complain all the time. About things. Because they're not. Talking with him. You know. We should have a lot of interest.

[34:20] In building a relationship. A relationship. A relationship. With the almighty. A relationship. A relationship. With the. The highest.

[34:31] Of the high. He should be our first priority. You've heard me say many times before. Jesus should be our first response. Not our last resort.

[34:45] Whatever's going on in our life. Jesus. Jesus. I need your help. Jesus. I need your direction. Jesus. I need you to. Point me.

[34:56] I need you to calm me. I need you to. Our first response. Not our last resort. God says. Look. You follow me. The way I want you to.

[35:07] You seek me. The way I want you to. He said. And. I will reward you. For doing that. I will meet your needs. I will take care of you.

[35:18] I will give you the direction. I will do. Just. Follow. Him. And seek him. When we follow.

[35:33] Christ. The way we should. When we seek him. The way we should. Is life going to be perfect? No. Because we live in a world. That's full of sin.

[35:46] But. If we follow him. If we seek him. It may not. I'm going to say it again. May not be an easy road. He.

[35:58] Is walking. With us. All. The difference. In the world. As we follow him. Seek. Ye first.

[36:10] The kingdom of God. And his righteousness. And all. These things. Shall be added unto you. Take your handbook. This morning. Bye.

[36:21] Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

[36:37] Bye. Bye. Bye. leaders. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. And you. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

[36:47] Bye. Bye.