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John 12:24-25,
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal."
It is a birth. Something dies; something is born. As such, being a birth, it is painful. It is travail. "Ye must be born again..."
It is the breaking up of fallow ground. It is painful to the flesh as the old self dies and the new man is born, the flesh is crucified, the members are mortified: put to death. The self is denied, and the cross is taken up. The blood is applied, which was shed in pain and shame for you.
But Jesus despised the shame of the cross for you, as Hebrews 12 :2 declares: "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Know then the seriousness of this salvation, purchased with so great a price - and dare you mock it, and laugh, and make jokes, rejecting the very Christ who gave His all to save your pathetic, depraved, and wicked soul that truly deserves hell, and will surely be cast into its flames, unless ye repent and flee far from all your sin, and renounce it to come to Christ?
Hosea 10:12-13
"Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men."
Sow to yourselves in righteousness: that is Tzedaqa = righteousness, morally righteous acts - break up that hard packed ground, tear out the weeds, break up[ the clods: and that breaking prepares the soul for the soft rain of the water of Gods Word in righteousness upon you. But you must seek the LORD, for it is time.
The Devil rages and seeks your life; seeking to devour you as a roaring lion: seeking to afflict you as he did Job, hoping you curse God till you die, and then share in his dreaded punishment of a horror inconceivable to our minds. Choose today that ye come to Christ. Lay all at His feet, and empty yourself of pride, and arrogance: deceitfulness and self righteousness.
Preachers love to quote Jeremiah 29:11, and the people love to hear it, for it is a blessing. But the scripture does not stop there: it goes on for two more verses:
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."
This goes along with Hosea: "Ye shall seek me, and find me, WHEN ye shall search for me with all your heart." No half hearted seeking: no little one minute salvation prayer. I hear "20 people came up and got saved!" No they didn't. First, because there was absolutely no fruit. Second, because half of them disappeared and never came back. Third, several of them came up to "get saved again" next week!
Consider King Josiah in 2 Chronicles 34:1-3,
"Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.
And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images."
Note what Josiah did: at age 16 he began to seek after God, and then 4 years later at the age of 20 he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of wickedness. You can read about King Josiah in the rest of the chapter, and in 2 Kings 22:1 - 23:28. There was national revival under Josiah. Judah was under judgment for King Manasseh's sins, but God witheld them during Josiah's reign.
When the book of the law was found in the house of the LORD (Yes, the scriptures were "lost" in the temple! How like today, because the true Word isn't preached in many churches!) Josiah commanded that they seek the LORD:
2 Kings 22:11-13
"And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying,
Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us."
Jehoshaphat, another good King who did right in the sight of the LORD, it is said of him that "thou..hast prepared thine heart to seek God" (2 Chron. 19:3) And so we see, true blessings of salvation and deliverance, and ridding ourselves of wickedness come from seeking. As Jesus said "Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matt. 6:33)
Paul preached in Athens "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us." (Acts 17:27) That is "Zeteo" in Greek, to seek after, seek for, to strive after, to crave.
We see then that the LORD requires us to seek Him; to diligently strive after Him, to press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:14)
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal."
It is a birth. Something dies; something is born. As such, being a birth, it is painful. It is travail. "Ye must be born again..."
It is the breaking up of fallow ground. It is painful to the flesh as the old self dies and the new man is born, the flesh is crucified, the members are mortified: put to death. The self is denied, and the cross is taken up. The blood is applied, which was shed in pain and shame for you.
But Jesus despised the shame of the cross for you, as Hebrews 12 :2 declares: "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Know then the seriousness of this salvation, purchased with so great a price - and dare you mock it, and laugh, and make jokes, rejecting the very Christ who gave His all to save your pathetic, depraved, and wicked soul that truly deserves hell, and will surely be cast into its flames, unless ye repent and flee far from all your sin, and renounce it to come to Christ?
Hosea 10:12-13
"Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men."
Sow to yourselves in righteousness: that is Tzedaqa = righteousness, morally righteous acts - break up that hard packed ground, tear out the weeds, break up[ the clods: and that breaking prepares the soul for the soft rain of the water of Gods Word in righteousness upon you. But you must seek the LORD, for it is time.
The Devil rages and seeks your life; seeking to devour you as a roaring lion: seeking to afflict you as he did Job, hoping you curse God till you die, and then share in his dreaded punishment of a horror inconceivable to our minds. Choose today that ye come to Christ. Lay all at His feet, and empty yourself of pride, and arrogance: deceitfulness and self righteousness.
Preachers love to quote Jeremiah 29:11, and the people love to hear it, for it is a blessing. But the scripture does not stop there: it goes on for two more verses:
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."
This goes along with Hosea: "Ye shall seek me, and find me, WHEN ye shall search for me with all your heart." No half hearted seeking: no little one minute salvation prayer. I hear "20 people came up and got saved!" No they didn't. First, because there was absolutely no fruit. Second, because half of them disappeared and never came back. Third, several of them came up to "get saved again" next week!
Consider King Josiah in 2 Chronicles 34:1-3,
"Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.
And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images."
Note what Josiah did: at age 16 he began to seek after God, and then 4 years later at the age of 20 he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of wickedness. You can read about King Josiah in the rest of the chapter, and in 2 Kings 22:1 - 23:28. There was national revival under Josiah. Judah was under judgment for King Manasseh's sins, but God witheld them during Josiah's reign.
When the book of the law was found in the house of the LORD (Yes, the scriptures were "lost" in the temple! How like today, because the true Word isn't preached in many churches!) Josiah commanded that they seek the LORD:
2 Kings 22:11-13
"And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying,
Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us."
Jehoshaphat, another good King who did right in the sight of the LORD, it is said of him that "thou..hast prepared thine heart to seek God" (2 Chron. 19:3) And so we see, true blessings of salvation and deliverance, and ridding ourselves of wickedness come from seeking. As Jesus said "Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matt. 6:33)
Paul preached in Athens "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us." (Acts 17:27) That is "Zeteo" in Greek, to seek after, seek for, to strive after, to crave.
We see then that the LORD requires us to seek Him; to diligently strive after Him, to press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:14)
