While He May Be Found

 

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)