What it Means to Seek God

What It Means to Seek God
Hebrews 11:6
Diligently Seeking God …
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Truth #1: God Can be Pleased …
Psalms 149:4 For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.
Matthew 25:21 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”
Truth #2: It is our Faith that Pleases God …
Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Do We Believe that God Is?
Hebrews 11:6
What quality is our faith?
What can we do to move toward a faith that is more our own ? ….
An Intelligent Faith …
Every material effect must have an adequate cause that existed before the effect.
How did this universe come into existence?
Design requires a Designer …
“Everything designed has a designer…”
William Paley’s famous “watch argument”
The universe, life forms and organisms appear to have been carefully designed …
Balance of the universe …
Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees on axis, rotating at 1000 mph, moving in orbit around sun at 70,000 mph, yet veers from straight line 1/9 inch every 18 miles (if 1/8 inch we would come so close to the sun to be incinerated)
Design of the human body …
Four levels – cells, tissues, organs, systems
100 trillion cells in adult
DNA molecule so complex would fill 1000 volume encyclopedia of 600 pages each …
What It Means to Seek God
Hebrews 11:6
God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him…
ekzeteo -- to search out, i.e. investigate, crave, demand, worship: inquire, seek after (carefully, diligently)… (Strong's Concordance.)
NASV – a rewarder of those who seek him
NIV – he rewards those who earnestly seek him
Amplified – he is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek him out
What seeking involves …
Church membership and attendance …
Bible study, prayer …
Helping others, personal evangelism …
Spiritual feelings …
Doctrinal soundness, love for the truth …
What seeking involves …
Growth in obedience to God …
With a desire to love and honor God …
Deeper longing to be continue growing in order to be closer to God …
A deliberate goal to draw closer to God …
Psalms 27:4 One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple…
A deliberate goal to draw closer to God …
Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
Jeremiah 29:12-13 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Growing in Obedience to God …
Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Desire to love and honor God …
Philippians 1:20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
Why seeking God is important …
Not because He is hard to find …
– Acts 17:27-28 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.'
God desires fellowship with those who love Him …
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 "what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,13 and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?
Why diligence matters…
The worst insult to God is indifference, apathy …
– Revelation 3:15-16 "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
God loves fervency …
Psalms 42:1-2 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.
God requires faithfulness …
John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
James 4:4 Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Will make a difference in our daily lives …
Greater impact for good on other people
– Ezekiel 36:23 And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD," says the Lord GOD, "when I am hallowed in you before their eyes.
Spiritual progress …
Will bring pleasure to God …
“God hears no sweeter music than the cracked chimes of the courageous human spirit ringing in imperfect acknowledgement of His perfect love.” – Joshua Loth Liebman
What It Means to Seek God
Hebrews 11:6