Pastor Rick Flowers
First Baptist Church of Flushing
(Third of a four-part series)
"God’s Requirements For Revival - Seeking God"
2 Chronicles 7:11-15
As we have seen to this point, the first two "Requirements For Genuine Revival" are Humility and Prayer. Today we will consider the need to "Seek God". But what does it mean to seek God? How Do We Go About it and Why? Let’s begin by considering what others have said about "Seeking The Face Of God":
· "We ought to see the face of God every morning before we see the face of man."
D.L. Moody
· "What is your ambition in life today? Is it to get rich? Is it to make a name for yourself? Is it even to do some wonderful thing for God? Listen to me, beloved. The highest desire that can possess any human heart is a longing to see God."
J. Vernon McGee in his book, "Feasting on the Word"
· "Feeling better has become more important to us than finding God."
Larry Crabb - Finding God. (Most people are looking for the church that has the right music, the right programs and the answers for all of their problems… and all of that is more important today than seeking God!)
· "If we yearned after God even as much as a cow yearns for her calf, we would be the worshipping and effective believers God wants us to be. If we longed for God as a bride looks forward to the return of her husband, we would be a far greater force for God than we are now." A. W. Tozer in Men Who Met God.
(Read 1 Chronicles 7:11-14 & Pray)
11Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king’s house; and Solomon successfully accomplished all that came into his heart to make in the house of the LORD and in his own house. 12Then the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
I. What Does It Mean To "Seek My Face"?
Word Meanings:
Two Hebrew Words which are translated "Seek" in relation to seeking God:
1. Baqwash - "To seek to find; to seek, to require, to desire, to request."
2. Darwash - "To seek with care, inquire, to frequent a place, tread a place; to seek deity in prayer and worship.
These words imply a yearning, a frequency of inquiry, a desire to enter into the presence of someone!
In the NT there are two root words which are translated "Seek":
1. Zayteo - "To seek for, to seek to understand something, how to do something; to seek or strive after, endeavor, to desire; to require or demand.
Other forms of the word mean "To seek carefully, with difficulty in the effort being implied, to seek out, to search for."
2. Orego - "To reach out, or after."
What Does The Term "Face" Mean?
"Face" in the OT meant two things: 1) The front of the head. 2) A person’s presence ("Before the face of").
Seeking God then is a sincere and persistent effort on the part of the seeker to reach out to God in order to enter into His presence! It may be motivated by the need to ask something of God, to request His intervention, to seek his mercy and forgiveness, to acquire wisdom, but most significantly it should be motivated by a desire to know Him more intimately!
Consider the words of the Apostle Paul - Philippians 3:10: "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,"
Know Him - "To know and understand; to become acquainted with; it is with the thought of the intimacy between a husband and wife." (Not just knowing about Him, but knowing Him!)
Power of His Resurrection - "To share and experience His powerful victory!"
Fellowship of His Sufferings - "To participate with Him in His humility and suffering!"
Conformed to His Death - "To be like Him in humble obedience to the cross (death to self)."
It is an Intimacy that ultimately produces Imitation (Becoming Like Him).
· In this church there is much Bible Knowledge.
· Folks can quote the Scriptures.
· People who can teach the mechanics of knowing and seeking God.
· But I cannot say that I have sensed much of the real intimacy with God in the lives of our people.
Just when I think that perhaps I have, I hear things that in reality are a reflection of the heart:
· Criticism
· Negativism
· Fault Finding
· Judgmental toward others
I’m not saying it doesn’t exist in someone’s life, I’m just saying that if it’s that hard to find, we all need to do a spiritual inventory!
(Illustration of getting lost in Prague, Czech Republic and searching for the group.)
Let me try to illustrate the concept of "Seeking". In 1994, we took a group from Calvary Baptist Church in Holland, MI to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Russia for a two week Missions trip. While we were there we did some street evangelism and held some evangelistic meetings in Russia. We also conducted a 3-day training seminar for about 150 national pastors and lay leaders while in Slovakia.
On my second day in Brataslava, Slovakia, I stepped off of a curve and severely sprained my right ankle. Because of the nature of the trip and our heavy schedule, I had to suck it up and learn to walk on it. It was terribly swollen, but after a couple of days, I got used to the pain. By the time we had arrived in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, it had been 10 days since the injury. We were to catch a flight back to the US later that evening, so we were given the day for sightseeing.
We were encouraged to stay together as a group. We had gotten off of the train, and decided to go into a public restroom. My injury had slowed me somewhat, so I was at the back of the line. Now at these public restrooms, you used the facility, then you paid a small amount of change before leaving. Normally this would not have been a big deal, but I had put my Czech money in my homemade money belt…
I put my money, my passport and any other small valuables into a baggy. I then safety pinned the baggy to the inside of my underwear. My Philosophy? If they want it that bad they can have it.
It did however pose a problem at the present, because of the length of time I had spent in the restroom, coupled with my efforts to retrieve my money from my shorts, by the time I could pay for my visit and get outside, the rest of the group was gone. Nowhere to be found! I looked everywhere! I was at a crossroads where they could have gone in 4 different directions, but they could not be seen in any direction! I was getting concerned… Very concerned! I started asking people on the streets if they had seen them, and no one spoke English! I searched for 15 or 20 minutes. Finally, way down one of the streets, I saw a member of our group. They had ducked into a building where you exchange currency, and the building was undergoing construction and appeared to be closed. The whole group had gone inside!
Before this experience, I had enjoyed conversing and fellowshipping with members in the group. I had never really given their presence much thought. I guess I had taken our relationship for granted. It wasn’t until that event that I truly realized how much I needed these people!
I felt an urgency, a helplessness, a necessity to find that group! I thought I would literally die if I did not find them. I usually don’t get rattled, but the thought that in just a few hours we were leaving and that someone in that group was holding my ticket began to get the best of me! Would I see my family again? You see, capital crime was a pretty common thing in that area.
I asked myself while putting this message together, "Rick, when was the last time you sought the Lord with that kind of Urgency, with a deep sense of helplessness, when you thought that if you didn’t find Him you would die?"
My conclusion was… It’s been a long time!
· I have also enjoyed conversing and fellowshipping with God.
· I had never really given His presence much thought.
· I guess I had taken our relationship for granted.
· But recently, God is getting my attention!
· I’m sensing an urgency to seek Him and to know Him more intimately. I have found that Adversity will do that to a person!
"We shouldn’t use God to solve our problems. We should see our problems as an opportunity to find God." Larry Crabb, Marriage Partnership
II. How Do We Seek God?
1. Through Prayer - We see this in 2 Chronicles 7:14
Hebrews 4:16 - Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
2. With A Prepared Heart
2 Chronicles 19:1-3 (King Jehoshaphat) - 1Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned safely to his house in Jerusalem. 2And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Therefore the wrath of the LORD is upon you. 3Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God.”
We must be willing to remove the idols, "the other gods in our life" before we will sincerely "seek God".
2 Chronicles 34:1-4 (King Josiah) - 1Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 3For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images. 4They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images he broke in pieces, and made dust of them and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we are to sincerely "Seek God", we must first remove from our heart and life those things that are offensive to God!
3. In Humility
We have seen this already in 2 Chronicles 7:14
Psalm 69:30-33 (King David) - I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bull, Which has horns and hooves. The humble shall see this and be glad; And you who seek God, your hearts shall live. For the LORD hears the poor, And does not despise His prisoners.
"Now, as always, God discovers Himself to "babes" and hides Himself in thick darkness from the wise and the prudent. We must simplify our approach to Him. We must strip down to essentials (and they will be found to be blessedly few). We must put away all effort to impress, and come with the guileless candor of childhood. If we do this, without doubt God will quickly respond." - A.W. Tozer in "The Pursuit of God.
4. Wholeheartedly
Psalm 119:2 - Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!
Jeremiah 29:10-14 - 10For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. 11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
"All people desire what they believe will make them happy. If a person is not full of desire for God, we can only conclude that he is engaged with another happiness. It’s hard to love God wholeheartedly; we all know that. So why do we not remove as many hindrances as possible?" - William Law in Christian Perfection
5. Willingly
Psalm 27:8 - When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.” - (David willingly sought God, especially in the midst of persecution by his adversaries - Read all of Psalm 27)
6. With Diligence And Faith
Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes (keeps on coming) to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
7. Daily
Isaiah 58:2 - (Speaking to Israel - Comendation before Rebuke!)
“Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek Me daily, And delight to know My ways, As a nation that did righteousness, And did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God.
Commended for seeking God Daily, but rebuked for their hypocrisy and wickedness.
8. Early
Isaiah 26:9 - With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
Psalm 63:1,2 - O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.
· "We ought to see the face of God every morning before we see the face of man."
D.L. Moody
Conclusion: If we are to experience God sent revival, whether personal or corporeal, we must first Humble ourselves, Pray and Seek the Face of God.
Christian: When was the last time you felt an urgency, a deep sense of helplessness, when you thought that if you didn’t find Him you would die? It drove you to your knees, not just to get something, but to meet with Him?
· If you can’t remember when, you need to examine your heart to see what things you have put before God.
· They may be good things, but if they have become more important to you than Him, then they have become your idol!
· It’s time to tear down the altars!
· Are there too many other things in your life that bring you happiness.
· Perhaps you have never really given His presence much thought.
· Have you taken your relationship with God for granted.
· Rest assured, if this is true of you, He will be getting your attention in the near future!
Unsaved: Will you come to the Savior today. Do not put it off!
