Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He
is near. (1)
Does this imply that He might not always be able to be
found? That He might not always be near?
“But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not
submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own
devices.” (2)
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any
longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not
proper, (3)
And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that
they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe
the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (4)
We must not select only those passages we like from
Scripture, but rather seek truth from its entirety. These passages indicate
that there comes a point in the lives of people when it is possible for God to
give them over to their depravity, and even blind them from the truth. When
might this happen to someone?
“Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and
every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will
never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” (5)
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will
guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but
whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (6)
“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” (7)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. (8)
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth. (9)
I believe that it is this blasphemy of the Holy Spirit,
which Jesus calls the unforgiveable sin, that can cause people to be given over
to their own depravity, or even be blinded from the truth by God. Why do I
think this? Because, as Jesus said, all other sins can be forgiven. So what is
this blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? I believe that it is simply the continual
rejection of God’s grace. It is a continual refusal to acknowledge Him and accept
the salvation that He offers through Jesus. In the previous passages (2, 3, and
4), we see examples of people being given over after refusing to listen to God
and acknowledge God. In these passages (5 and 6) we see that blasphemy of the
Holy Spirit is unforgiveable, and that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth
and leads people into all truth. We also see (7) that God’s word is truth. We
also see (8 and 9) that “the Word” is a title of Jesus. So one of the truths,
if not the ultimate truth, that the Holy Spirit leads people to is the truth of
Jesus. So rejection of Jesus is tantamount to rejection of the truth, which is
also tantamount to rejection of the mission of the Holy Spirit, or rejection of
the Holy Spirit Himself. This is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. There is no
single sin that cannot be forgiven, other than rejection of salvation, or the
Gospel, itself.
“So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and
send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because
I am in agony in this fire.’ But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your
lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but
now He is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us
and you, a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from
here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’” (10)
And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who
had performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had
received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image; these two
were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the
rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the
horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. (11)
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades
delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according
to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into
the lake of fire. (12)
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than
any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of
both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the
heart. (13)
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God; (14)
How can we know when people have finally been given over to
their own depravity and possibly even blinded by God? I don’t know for sure
that we can. But I do believe that it is possible for this to happen, because
the Bible says that it is. These passages (10, 11, and 12), however, illustrate
a couple of situations when it will for sure be too late for people; when God will
not be found and when He will not be near. One time is after death. The other
is after someone accepts the “mark of the beast” during the prophesied, yet
future (as of this writing) seven-year period commonly referred to as the
Tribulation. Other than that, we know not. The other two passages (13 and 14)
give clarification on what I believe is the sword that proceeds from the mouth
of the horse rider (passage 12). I believe that the rider is none other than
Jesus, returning to establish His kingdom on earth (at some point in our
future), and the sword is the word, or words, of God. This could be a reference
to Scripture; the Bible being the Word of God. This could also be a reference
to other words spoken by Him (Jesus) at that time. Jesus, being the second
person of the Godhead, or Trinity, is God Himself. Therefore, His words are the
words of God. So the sword proceeding from the mouth of the horse rider is
simply a reference to the word, or words, of God being spoken by the Word of
God.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some
understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to
perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (15)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. (16)
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your
minds because of your evil behavior. (17)
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we
were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his
blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if,
while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his
Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
(18)
So God is not desiring that people would perish. It is clear
that He would prefer everyone to repent and be saved. He loves the world so
much that Christ was willing to die to atone for our sins. God does not desire
to give people over to their depravity. However, He does allow us the freedom
to choose to reject Him. And like anyone else who may love someone and want to
be in relationship with someone, He will only suffer rejection so many times
before He stops reaching out and allows the other to go his or her own way. Of
course, His patience far exceeds ours. And He sometimes even removes Himself—His
Holy Spirit, the giver of truth—from the other. Without the giver of truth, the
other is blinded by the lie. What is the lie? It could be something specific,
like believing there is no God. Or it could be any lie that someone else
chooses to believe instead of the truth. People can take their pick.
That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and
believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
(19)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and
this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one
can boast. (20)
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, (21)
This is the way to seek God. He is already seeking you. Will
you receive Him? The Bible tells us that people do not seek God of their own
accord (Isaiah 9:13, Isaiah 65:1, Romans 3:11). But we know that He seeks out
individuals. We can respond by accepting or rejecting. These passages (19, 20,
and 21) make it clear that all we can do is accept Him. We cannot work to save
ourselves; it will not work.
Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He
is near. There may come a day when, through your own continual rejection of
Him, He may no longer be found, and He may no longer be near. Or the day may
come in our lifetime when people will be forced to take the mark of the beast,
and worship his image, or die (Revelation 13:15-18). But we have already seen
that to do so will be an indication of rejecting God permanently and will result
in judgment. If these things are disconcerting or frightening to you, then I
would say God is still reaching out to you. If you are worried about it being
too late, then I would say it is not too late. You have not been given over to
your own depravity. God has not sent blindness upon you. Seek Him now. Call
upon Him now. He will answer.
For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
(22)
Grace and peace to you.
1. Isaiah 55:6 (NASB) 2. Psalm 81:11-12 (NIV) 3. Romans 1:28
(NASB) 4. 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 (NKJV) 5. Mark 3:28-29 (NIV) 6. John 16:13
(NKJV) 7. John 17:17 (NKJV) 8. John 1:1 (NKJV) 9. John 1:14 (NKJV) 10. Luke
16:24-26 (NIV) 11. Revelation 19:20-21 (NASB) 12. Revelation 20:13-15 (NKJV)
13. Hebrews 4:12 (NASB) 14. Ephesians 6:17 (NKJV) 15. 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV) 16.
John 3:16 (KJV) 17. Colossians 1:21 (NIV) 18. Romans 5:8-10 (NIV) 19. Romans
10:9 (NASB) 20. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) 21. John 1:12 (NASB) 22. Romans 10:13
(NKJV)
