Seek the Lord

In the 29th chapter of Jeremiah, and the 13th verse, it says: “And ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” I wish men would seek for Christ as they seek for wealth. I wish men would seek for Christ as they seek for position in this world. Man prepares his feast, and there is a great rush to see who will get there first. God prepares his feast, and the excuses come in: “I pray thee have me excused.” Supposing I should state that last night a man came into this place and lost a very valuable present; something he valued a great deal more than the value of the present, because it was the gift of his dying mother. Suppose he should send up a note to me, saying: “Mr. Moody, I lost, last night, a very valuable diamond; and I am willing to give anyone that can find that diamond, $20,000.” I am sure there would be a great search. How many do you suppose would be seeking for that diamond? I would not give much for my sermon tonight. A man might say: “I am poor; and if I could find that diamond, wouldn’t that take me out of poverty and out of want?” You wouldn’t wait until I got through my sermon; but you would be looking down at your feet, and under the benches. My friend, isn’t the salvation of your soul worth more than all the diamonds that the world has seen? Isn’t it worth more than the whole world itself, and isn’t it the best thing you can do tonight to seek the Lord?

Thanks be to God that you haven’t got to go around the world to get salvation; you haven’t got to go out of this building to find salvation. “Ye shall find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” Now, my friend, do you believe it? Young man, do you believe that the Lord can be found here tonight? If he can be found, why not seek for him, and why not look? This cold, bleak night may be the night of your salvation. If it is true that the Lord is worth more than the whole world, and he can be found by seeking, why not seek for him? – not with half a heart, but with all your heart.

How many men were there that were converted in the great revival of ‘57 and ‘58, and yet some people cry out against revivals. They had rather be converted at any time than during a revival. It was not long after the revival of ‘57 and ‘58 that the nation was deluged with blood, and half a million men laid down their lives. Wasn’t it the best thing they could have done, to seek the Lord then? It was my privilege to be in the army at that time. I was by their cots, and I saw them die. I never saw a man all through the war that regretted that he became a Christian. The best thing they could do was to call upon the Lord. It was a great calamity, and came right home to the heart of the nation. We are just now, I am afraid, going to have some of this sad work. I believe that we are even now on the eve of just such work. I believe that judgments are going to happen upon this nation again. Grace always precedes judgments.

By and by will come the piercing cry, “It’s too late!” To-night I plead with you to neglect it no longer. Some of you here may hear the appeal for the last time. Oh, may the Holy Spirit open your eyes to-night! While we were in Europe, a man came into one of the meetings in the coal region; and when the audience was dismissed, he was seen to remain, standing against a post. One of the elders approached him, and asked him why he remained. He said he had made up his mind not to leave that church until he found the kingdom of God. The elder remained with him for a long time, and at last the miner made a surrender. The next day he went into the coal-pit, and before night the mine fell in and buried him. He was taken from the ruins just before life became extinct, and was heard to say: “It is a good thing I settled it last night.” Wasn’t it a good thing? Young lady, what say you? Young man, what do you think?

When Mr. Sankey and I were in the North of England, I was preaching one evening, and before me sat a lady who was a skeptic. When I had finished, I asked all who were anxious to remain. Nearly all remained, herself among the number. I asked her if she was a Christian: and she said she was not, nor did she care to be. I prayed for her there. On inquiry, I learned that she was a lady of good social position, but very worldly. She continued to attend the meetings, and in a week after I saw her in tears. After the sermon I went to her, and asked her if she was of the same mind as before. She replied that Christ had come to her, and she was happy. Last autumn I had a note from her husband, saying she was dead, that her love for her Master had continually increased. When I read that note, I felt paid for crossing the Atlantic. She worked sweetly after her conversion, and was the means of winning many of her fashionable friends to Christ. Oh, may you seek the Lord while He may be found, and may you call upon him while you may.

~ This is from Mr. Moody’s sermon “Seek the Lord” in The Gospel Awakening