Pro 8:17
Seek Me Early
I want to speak to Christians this evening. If you are here and are
not a Christian, please stay; but much of what I say may be beyond
you tonight.
Let me give you some background on me. I did not get saved until I
was 16 years old. I was in church a few times before that, but
basically I did not hear a gospel presentation at all until I was
around 14 years old. The first time I heard the gospel, I prayed the
sinners prayer. I did not get saved because I did not repent, but the
first time I heard the gospel I knew I didn’t want to go to hell and
was glad to hear there was a way out. It would be another 2 years,
when I was 16, before I would come under conviction would be saved.
It would be another 2 years, 18 years old) before I would grow enough
in the Lord that I comprehend His calling for my life and at least 2
more years (20 years old) before I could learn enough Bible to even
begin to do what God called me to do. That’s a lot of wasted years. I
want to help you this morning by keeping you from wasting not only
your whole life but any part of it. Please listen.
I. God has created you with a definite purpose.
Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew
thee; and before thou camest forth out of the
womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a
prophet unto the nations.
Isa 49:5 And now, saith the LORD that formed me
from the womb to be his servant…
Ga 1:15 But when it pleased God, who separated
me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his
grace,
A. God does not make junk, spare parts, or tools for the devil.
B. If you exists, God created you for a purpose, to do something
for Him. You are the only one who can accomplish that
purpose.
C. If you are alive, I don’t think you have missed that purpose.
1. I suspect when God is finished with you, you go home.
2. If you feel like you might have missed your purpose, work
harder to find and to fulfill it.
II. So the question is not is there a purpose for your life, the
question is will you find the purpose for your life?
A. The answer to this question is solely up to you.
1. The Bible promises that if you seek God, you will find
Him.
Jeremiah 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find
me, when ye shall search for me with all your
heart.
Deut 4:29 But if from thence thou shalt seek
the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou
seek him with all thy heart and with all thy
soul.
Acts 17:27 That they (mankind) should seek the
Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and
find him, though he be not far from every one
of us:
2. God delights in people looking for Him. It is rare and so
God will respond.
2Ch 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro
throughout the whole earth, to shew himself
strong in the behalf of them whose heart is
perfect toward him.
B. How do I seek Him?
1. There are behavior you can do.
a. Seek Him by loving Him.
Ps 91:14 Because he hath set his love upon me,
therefore will I deliver him: I will set him
on high, because he hath known my name.
b. Seek Him by obeying Him.
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If
a man love me, he will keep my words: and my
Father will love him, and we will come unto
him, and make our abode with him.
c. Seek Him where He is.
Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found,
call ye upon him while he is near:
(1) I know people believe they can find God on the
river, in the deer stand, and even in the
shopping malls; but the only way you are going
to find God in those places is IF YOU TOOK
HIM WITH YOU.
(2) Go to a church where people are getting saved.
(3) Go to the Bible and to the prayer closet.
2. There is a time you can follow.
a. Seek Him early.
(1) See the text.
(2) Some think this verse means to seek God the first
thing in the morning. That may be an
application.
(3) However, I believe it means to seek God early in
life.
(4) Parents, we have a lot to do with that.
(5) Some of God’s greatest servants started when they
were young. (John the Baptist, Samuel, John
Mark, Timothy)
(6) For some, that is no longer possible; but God has
another time for us to follow.
b. Seek Him before you seek all the other things in life.
Mt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness; and all these things
shall be added unto you.
c. Seek Him with a proper vessel.
III. What kind of vessel is God looking for? I am not trying to
cause any problems. These are Bible truths that offend many,
but they are still Bible truths.
A. God is looking for a clean vessel.
1Cor 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the
temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which
ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore
glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,
which are God’s.
1. Our bodies are not our own. When God purchased us, He
purchased us lot, stock, and barrel.
2. Understand, there is nothing about the flesh that
impresses God. (beauty, strength, intellect, youth)
3. God is telling in this verse that the body is His.
a. It is the temple where the Holy Ghost abides.
b. Does God care about how the temple looks? Go back and
study the Old Testament. He wants the temple to be
a place that pleases Him and what pleases Him may not
be what pleases us.
4. How can we keep our body clean? Let me give you some
verses.
a. \\#Lev 19:28\\ Don’t add tattoos or cuttings to your
body. If God wanted them on there, He would have
put them there. God made the body and then said it
is good.
b. \\#Deut 22:5\\ Don’t cross dress. Is it right for a
man to wear a dress and hose? Why? Because it is a
man wearing the wrong sex’s cloths. Men are supposed
to wear men’s cloths and ladies are supposed to wear
ladies. Each sex should dress to show what God made
them to be.
c. \\#1Tim 2:9-10\\ Dress modestly. Do not rely on glitz
and bling for beauty. Dress simply and let your
spirit manifest your beauty.
B. God is looking for a pure vessel.
1Ti 4:12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be
thou an example of the believers, in word, in
conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith,
in purity.
1. The last verse spoke of the body. This verse the spirit.
2. The last tells us to keep the world off and out of the
body. This one to keep sin off of and out of the spirit.
3. Let’s get rid of the jealousy, laziness, shiftlessness,
anger—anything that is sinful, cut it loose.
1Pe 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and
all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all
evil speakings,
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us
lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth
so easily beset us, and let us run with patience
the race that is set before us,
C. God is looking for a devoted vessel.
Re 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee,
because thou hast left thy first love.
D. God is looking for disciplined vessel. Learn how to obey God.
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
1Cor 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards,
that a man be found faithful.
1. That does not mean God is expecting perfection. None of
us can be perfect.
2. But let’s keep trying and let’s make a few strides.
E. God is looking for a spiritual vessel.
Ga 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit,
and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Ga 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also
walk in the Spirit.
1. To walk in the Spirit is not just be conscious of the
Spirit.
2. To walk in the Spirit is to choose spiritual over carnal.
3. To walk in the Spirit is to be in prayer and obedience to
Him at all times.
I cannot tell you what God will do with you, but whatever God does
with you is not your concern. Your concern is to be the vessel that
God can use. You present Him the vessel and God will use you.
<OutlineIndex> <Close Window>
