In the following sermon Dwight Moody preaches about salvation. I hope you
find it enlightening and encouraging.
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
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Seek The Lord While He May Be Found; Call Ye Upon Him While He Is Near
by Dwight L. Moody
ISAIAH 55:6
I have been speaking about the Son of Man seeking the lost; but now I
want to take up the other side of the case - man's side. I have learned
this, that when anyone becomes in earnest about his soul's salvation he
begins to seek God, and it does not take a great while for them to meet; it
does not take long for an anxious sinner to meet an anxious Savior. What
do we read in the 29th chapter of Jeremiah, 13th verse? "Ye shall seek
Me and find Me when ye shall search for Me with all your heart." These
are the men who find Christ - those who seek for Him with all their
heart. I am tired and sick of half-heartedness. You don't like a
half-hearted
man; you don't care for anyone to love you with a half heart, and the Lord
won't have it. If we are going to seek for Him and find Him, we must do it
with all our heart. I believe the reason why so few people find Christ is
because they do not search for Him with all their heart; they are not
terribly in earnest about their soul's salvation. God is in earnest;
everything God has done proves that He is in earnest about the salvation
of men's souls. He has proved it by giving his only Son to die for us. The
Son of God was in earnest when He died. What is Calvary but a proof of
that? And the Lord wants us to be in earnest when it comes to this great
question of the soul's salvation. I never saw men seeking Him with all
their hearts but they soon found Him.
It was quite refreshing, one night, to find in the inquiry-room a young man
who thought he was not worth saving, he was so vile and wicked. There
was hope for him because he was so desperately in earnest about his soul.
He thought he was worthless. He had got a sight of himself in God's
looking glass, and when a man does that he has a very poor opinion of
himself. You can always tell when a man is a great way from God - he is
always talking about himself, and how good he is. But the moment he sees
God by the eye of faith he is down on his knees, and, like Job, he cries,
"Behold, I am vile." All his goodness flees away. What men want is to be
in earnest about their salvation, and they will soon find Christ. You do not
need to go up to the heights to bring Him down, or down to the depths to
bring Him up, or to go off to some distant city to find Him. This day He is
near to everyone of us. I heard someone in the inquiry-room telling a
young person to go home and seek Christ in his closet. I would not dare to
tell anyone to do that. You might be dead before you got home. If I read
my Bible correctly, the man who preaches the gospel is not the man who
tells me to seek Christ tomorrow or an hour hence, but now. He is near to
everyone of us this minute to save. If the world would just come to God
for salvation, and be in earnest about it, they would find the Son of God
right at the door of their heart.
Suppose I should say I lost a very valuable diamond here last night - I
have not, but suppose it - worth $100,000. I had it in my pocket when I
came into the hall, and when I had done preaching I found it was not in my
pocket, but was in the hall somewhere. And suppose I was to say that
anyone who found it could have it. How earnest you would all become!
You would not get very much of my sermon; you would all be thinking of
the diamond. I do not believe the police could get you out of this hall The
idea of finding a diamond worth $100,000! If you could only find it, it
would lift you out of poverty at once, and you would be independent for
the rest of your days. Oh, how soon everybody would become terribly in
earnest then! I would to God I could get men to seek for Christ in the same
way. I have got something worth more than a diamond to offer you. Is not
salvation - eternal life - worth more than all the diamonds in the world?
Suppose Gabriel should wing his way from the throne of God and come
down here, and say he had been commissioned by Jehovah to come and
offer to this assembly any one gift you might choose. You could have just
what you chose, but only one thing. What would it be? The wealth of this
city, or of the world? Would that be your choice? Ten thousand times, no!
Your one cry would be, "Life! Eternal life!"
There is nothing that men value as they do life. Let a man be out on a
wreck that is fast going down. He is worth a million dollars and his only
chance is to give up that million dollars just to save the life of the body.
He would give it up in a moment. "Skin for skin; all that a man hath will he
give for his life." I understand some people have been afraid to come to
this hall because there might be a cry of "Fire! fire!" and a panic, and
they
might lose their life. Yet there are twenty doors to the building; I do not
know that I ever saw a building that you could get out of easier. Yet
people seem to sleep, and to forget that there is no door out of hell. If
they
enter they must remain, age after age. Millions on millions of years will
roll on, but there will be no door, no escape out of hell. May God wake up
this slumbering congregation and make you anxious about your souls.
People talk about our being earnest and fanatical - about our being on
fire. Would to God the Church was on fire; this world would soon shake
to its foundation. May God wake up a slumbering Church! What we want
men to do is not to shout "Amen," and clasp their hands. The deepest and
quietest waters very often run swiftest. We want men to go right to work;
there will be a chance for you to shout by-and-by. Go and speak to your
neighbor and tell him of Christ and heaven. You need not go a few yards
down these streets before you find someone who is passing down to the
darkness of eternal death. Let us haste to the rescue!
What we want to see is men really wishing to become Christians, men who
are in dead earnest about it. The idea of hearing a man say in answer to the
question. "Do you want to become a Christian?" "Well, I would not
mind." My friend, I do not think you will ever get into the kingdom of God
until you change your language. We want men crying from the depths of
their heart, "I want to be saved." On the day of Pentecost the cry was,
"Men and brethren, what shall we do?" These men were in earnest, and
they found Christ right there; three thousand found Him, when they
sought with all their hearts. When men seek Christ as they do wealth, they
will soon find Him. To be sure, the world will raise a cry that they are
excited. Let cotton go up ten or fifteen per cent before tomorrow morning,
and you will see how quickly the merchants will get excited! And the
papers don't cry it down either. They say it is healthy excitement;
commerce is getting on. But when you begin to get excited about your
soul's salvation, and are in earnest, then they raise the cry, "Oh, they are
getting excited; most unhealthy state of things." Yet they don't talk about
men hastening down to death by thousands. There is the poor drunkard,
look at him! Hear the piercing cry going up to heaven! Yet the Church of
God slumbers and sleeps. Here and there is an inquirer, and yet they go
into the inquiry-room as if they were half asleep. When will men seek for
Christ as they seek for wealth, or as they seek for honor?
I am told that when the war broke out on the Gold Coast, though it was
known that the climate was a very unhealthy one, and a great many who
went there would never return, yet hundreds and thousands of men
wanted to go. Why? They wanted to get wealth, and from wealth, honor.
And if there is a chance of going to India, no end of men are willing to go.
To get a little honor they will sacrifice comfort, pleasure, health, and
everything. What we want, is to have men seeking the kingdom of God, as
they seek for honor and wealth.
As I said, if life is in danger, how terribly in earnest men become. That is
right; there is no doubt about that. But why should not men be as much in
earnest about their soul's salvation? Why should not every man and
woman here wake up and seek the Lord with all their heart? Then, the
Lord says, you shall find Him.
There is a story told of a vessel that was wrecked, and was going down at
sea. There were not enough lifeboats to take all on board. When the vessel
went down, some of the lifeboats were near the vessel. A man swam from
the wreck just as it was going down, to one of the boats; but they had no
room to take him, and they refused. When they refused, he seized hold of
the boat with his right hand, but they took a sword and cut off his fingers.
When he had lost the fingers of his right hand, the man was so earnest to
save his life that he seized the boat with his left hand; they cut off the
fingers of that hand too. Then the man swam up and seized the boat with
his teeth, and they had compassion on him and relented. They could not
cut off his head, so they took him in, and the man saved his life. Why?
Because he was in earnest. Why not seek your soul's salvation as that
man sought to save his life?
Will there ever be a better time? Will there ever be a better time for that
old
man whose locks are growing gray, whose eyes are growing dim, and who
is hastening to the grave? Is not this the very best time for him? "Seek the
Lord while He may be found." There is a man in the middle of life. Is this
not the best time for him to seek the kingdom of God! Will he ever have a
better opportunity? Will Christ ever be more willing to save than now? He
says, "Come, for all things are now ready." Not going to be, but are now
ready. There is a young man. My friend, is it not the best time for you to
seek the kingdom of God? Seek the Lord, you can find him here tonight.
Can you say that you will find Him here tomorrow? Will anyone rise up
in this hall and say that? Young man, you know not what tomorrow may
bring forth. Do you know that since we met here last night 43,000 souls
have passed from time to eternity? Do you know that every time the clock
ticks a soul passes away? Is not this the best time for you to seek the
kingdom of God?
My boy, the Lord wants you. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and seek
Him while He may be found. Over twenty years ago, a great revival swept
over this land. A great many men stood and shook their heads; they could
not believe it was a healthy state of things. The Church was not in its
normal state! The Church from Maine to Minnesota, and on to California,
was astir. And as you passed over this great republic, over its western
prairies and mountains, and through its valleys, as you went on by train,
and as you passed through its cities and villages, you could see the
churches lit up; and men were flocking into the kingdom of God by
hundreds. And in a year and a half or two years there were more than half
a million souls brought in. Men said it was false excitement, wildfire, and
it
would pass away. But, my friends, it was grace preceding judgment. Little
did we know that our nation was soon to be baptized in blood, and that
we would soon hear the tramp of a million men, that hundreds and
thousands of our young men, the flower of our nation, would soon be
lying in a soldier's grave. But, oh, my friends, it was God calling his
people in. He was preparing our nation for a terrible struggle.
And now, it seems to me that there is another wave of blessing passing
over this earth. Tidings are coming from all parts of the world, telling us
of
the great work God is doing. The last tidings from India, told us of a
blessed work going on there. The last tidings from Japan and from other
places - we have the same good news of God pouring out his Spirit. It
was only the other day that two men came up here from a town of 50,000
inhabitants, and wanted us to go there; but we could not, and we told them
to go home and get to work themselves. Today one of them told us that
they had sixteen last night in the inquiry-room. God is pouring out his
Spirit everywhere. Everywhere men are putting in the sickle and bringing
their sheaves and laying them at the feet of the Master. I believe we are
living in the days that our fathers prayed for. The heavens are open, and
the Spirit of God is descending upon the sons of men.
Now, this time of revival is a good time to seek the Lord. Will you ever
have a better time? The tidings from every city is this - the people are
praying. It is a question in my mind if there was ever so much prayer
going up to God as at the present. Not only here, but all around the world,
we have God's people making their hearts burdened for the salvation of
souls. And is it not God working? Will there ever be a better time for you
to seek the kingdom of God than the present, when there is such a great
awakening, when there is such a spirit of expectation; when the Church of
God is coming up as one man, and the spirit of unity prevails? Think of
the praying ones here. Do you believe there were ever so many men and
women praying for your soul as there are here tonight? Look over this
audience - what are these Christians doing now! They are silently
praying to God. I can see they are praying. There is a young man with his
mother sitting by his side. That mother is pleading, "God save my boy
tonight!" May it go down deep into his soul! "Seek ye the Lord while He
may be found."
Now, let me ask you a question. Do you believe that the Lord can be
found here tonight? I appeal to these ministers present at my side; do you
believe He can? They answer "YES." My friends do you believe it?
Another YES comes from the audience. Well, if He can, is it not the height
of madness for any man or woman to go out of this hall without seeking
Him? If He can be found, why not seek Him? Young lady, why not seek
Him with all your heart? Young man, why not seek Christ tonight with all
your heart? Why not say, "I must be saved?" There is nothing so
important as this great question of salvation.
Supposing you could win the world, what would you do with it? Would it
be worth as much as Christ? Let everything else be laid aside, and make up
your minds that you will not rest until you have sought and found the
Lord Jesus. I never knew anyone make up his mind to seek Him but he
soon found Him. At Dublin a young man found Christ. He went home and
lived so godly and so Christ-like, that two of his brothers could not
understand what had wrought the change in him. They left Dublin and
followed us to Sheffield, and found Christ there. They were in earnest.
But, thanks be to God, you have not got to go out of this hall. Christ can
be found here tonight. I firmly believe everyone here can find Christ
tonight if you will seek for Him with all your heart. He says, "Call upon
Me." Did you ever hear of anyone calling on Christ with the whole heart,
that Christ didn't answer? Look at that thief on the cross! It may have
been that he had a praying mother, and that his mother taught him the
fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. He had heard Christ pray that wonderful
prayer, "Father, forgive them." And as he was hanging on the cross that
text of Scripture came to his mind, "Seek the Lord while He may be found;
call ye upon Him while He is near." The truth came flashing into his soul,
and he says, "He is near me now; I will call on Him. Lord, remember me
when Thou comest into Thy kingdom." No sooner had he called than the
Lord said, "This day shalt thou be with Me in paradise." That was his
seeking opportunity, his day. My friends, this is your day now. I believe
that every man has his day. You have it just now; why not call upon Him
just now? Say, as the poor thief did, "Lord remember me." That was his
golden opportunity, and the Lord heard and answered and saved him. Did
not Bartimeus call on Him while He was near? Christ was passing by
Jericho for the last time, and he cried out, "Thou Son of David, have
mercy on me." And did not the Lord hear his prayer, and give him his
sight? It was a good thing Zaccheus called - or rather the Lord called him,
but when the Lord called he came. May the Lord call many here, and may
you respond, "Lord, here am I; You have called and I come." Do you
believe the Lord will call a poor sinner, and then cast him out? No! His
word stands forever, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out."
I was glad when that man I told you of, said he felt as if he was too bad.
Men are pretty near the kingdom of God when they do not see anything
good in themselves. At the Fulton Street prayer-meeting a man came in,
and this was his story. He said he had a mother who prayed for him; he
was a wild, reckless prodigal. Some time after his mother's death he began
to be troubled. He thought he ought to get into new company, and leave
his old companions. So he said he would go and join a secret society; he
thought he would join the Odd Fellows. They went and made inquiry
about him, and they found he was a drunken sailor, so they blackballed
him. They would not have him. He went to the Freemasons; he had
nobody to recommend him, so they inquired and found there was no good
in his character, and they, too, blackballed him. They didn't want him.
One day, someone handed him a little notice in the street about the
prayer-meeting, and he went in. He heard that Christ had come to save
sinners. He believed Him; he took Him at his word; and, in reporting the
matter, he said he "came to Christ without a character, and Christ hadn't
blackballed him."
My friends, that is Christ's way. Is there a man here without a character,
with nobody to say a good word for him? I bring you good news. Call on
the Son of God, and He will heal you. Call on Him tonight.
I was at a meeting for ministers the other day. Up in the gallery there was
one solitary woman; she sat there alone. When the meeting was over and I
was passing out, she came and said, "Mr. Moody, do you remember me?"
"Oh, yes," I said, "I remember you." Where had I met her? Mr. Sankey
and myself were leaving Dundee for the north of Scotland. There was a
lady who had come from London and brought her two boys all the way to
get blessed; they must have been about eighteen or nineteen - twins. That
mother's heart was burdened for their salvation. The last night we had a
meeting there, one of the sons yielded himself up to Christ, and the mother
went back next morning with her two boys, rejoicing that they had asked
and found peace in believing. Some people may say that she was a great
fanatic for going all the way from London to Dundee with her boys to get
a blessing. But last Friday she says, "My boy who found the Lord in
Dundee, died three weeks ago." And as she pressed my hand as I left the
meeting, I said to myself, "Was it not a good thing that mother took her
boy to Dundee?" My friends, let us be in earnest about the salvation of
our children and of our friends. Warn that young lady. Yes, mother, speak
to that daughter of yours. Father, speak to that child of yours. Wife, speak
to your unconverted husband; husband, speak to your unconverted wife.
Do not let a man go out of this house saying, "Nobody cared for my soul."
I never saw a mother burdened for her children but they soon became
anxious. Oh, may there be many a sinner seeking the kingdom of God with
all their heart!
Before I close, I want to ask you once more, "What are you going to do? If
the Lord is near, won't you call upon Him?" Don't let that scoffing man
next to you keep you out of the kingdom of God. There is a scornful look
upon that man's face, perhaps he is making light of what I am saying.
Don't mind him; don't look to him; but just look right up to God, and ask
Him to save you. Now, every true friend - and you all have friends -
every true friend, if you could get his advice tonight, would tell you to be
saved now. Ask that minister sitting next you, "Had I better seek the
kingdom of God tonight?" What does he tell you? "By all means, don't
put it off another minute." Ask that godly praying mother, by your side,
"Is it best to seek the kingdom of God tonight?" Does she say, "Put it off
one week," or "put it off one month?" Do you think that mother would
say that? There is not a Christian mother in this hall who would say it. I
doubt if there is an unconverted mother even here whose advice would be
to put off becoming a Christian. Ask that praying sister of yours, ask that
praying brother, ask any friend you have here - if you are sitting near one
- whether it is not the very best thing you can do. And then cry up to
heaven and ask Him who is sitting at the right hand of God, and who loves
you more than your father or your mother, or anyone on earth - who
loves you so much that He gave Himself for you; ask Him what He will
have you do, and hear his voice from the throne, "Seek ye first the
kingdom of God." And then shout down to the infernal regions, and ask
those down there, and what will they say? "Send someone to my father's
house, for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they
also come into this place." Heaven, earth, and hell unite in this one thing,
"Seek first the kingdom of God." Don't put it off. Call upon Him while
He is near. And if you call upon Him in real earnest He will hear that call.
You may call too late. I have no doubt that those who would not pray
when the ark was building prayed when the flood came, but their prayer
was not answered. I have no doubt that when Lot went out of Sodom,
Sodom cried to God, but it was too late, and God's judgment swept them
from the earth. My friends, it is not too late now, but it may be at twelve
o'clock tonight. I cannot find any place in this Bible where I can say you
may call tomorrow. I am not justified in saying that. "Behold, now is the
accepted time; now is the day of salvation." Those men of Jerusalem, what
a golden opportunity they had, with Christ in their midst. We see the Son
of God weeping over Jerusalem, His heart bursting with grief for the city,
as He cried, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! thou that stonest the prophets, how
often would I have gathered thee as a hen gathereth her brood, but ye
would not." He could look down forty years, and see Titus coming with
his army, and besieging that city. They called upon God then, but it was
too late, and eleven hundred thousand people perished. Tonight is a time
of mercy. It may be I am talking to someone tonight whose days of grace
may be few, to someone who may be snatched away very soon. There
may be someone here tonight who may never hear another gospel sermon;
someone who may be hearing the last call. My friend, be wise tonight.
Make up your mind that you will seek the kingdom of God now. "Behold,
now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." Christ is
inviting you to come - "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest." Oh, may we all find rest in Christ
tonight!
Do not let anything divert your minds, but this night, this hour, make up
your mind that you will not leave this hall until the great question of
eternity has been settled.
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