Seek the Lord While He May Be Found

Well, brethren, have you ever missed out on an opportunity in life? You know, something you really wanted to take advantage of, but maybe due to just kind of relaxing your focus or letting time slide by, you turned around to address it and suddenly the opportunity had passed. Now the window was closed. Maybe it was a store item you've been wanting to purchase for a long time. You know, you've been watching and watching, thinking about it, and finally it comes on sale, but you know, it's a big ticket item and it's a huge commitment.

So, well, I just got to think about this a little longer, but one day you say, okay, I'll do it. So you take your cash and you go down to the store only to find out, sorry, it's sold out. You know, window of opportunity again had passed you by. We've probably all experienced something similar to that at one time or another. I think back on, for example, some of the wild snow storms or windstorms we've had in the past and power gets knocked out for days.

We had one, I think it was around 2016, and the power at our place was out for 13 days. And I remember prior to that going, we need a generator just to have on hand just in case. And you know, all this time you could have bought a generator, it was stacked up in Home Depot, you know, three piles deep. But when the windstorm hits and everybody's out of power, suddenly people are running through the parking lot and you miss that window just so very easy.

Again, we've all experienced that probably. Used car sales come to mind if you're in the market and you've looked at a car here and a car there and you've got a few others perhaps you're considering and you say, I'll get back to you. And after a little more consideration, you go, no, that second one I looked at, that's the one. And you go back and they say, well, sorry, you know, we sold that an hour ago.

Some of you were in the housing market in Spokane here in recent years, you know, looking for a place to buy and you kind of saw up close and personal what was going on here and actually if you didn't make a decision almost on the spot, the inventory was gone or there were bidding wars going on. And so in so many ways it is easy to miss out on an opportunity because we think we have an indefinite amount of time.

And there's times we simply need to act because this is the time and this is the place. Maybe it's not a thing, maybe it's a relationship. Maybe you didn't tell him or her about how you really felt about them. And in the meantime, somebody else came along and now they're married. Now it's too late. You can't bring that forward. And that window of opportunity passed. Maybe it was someone in your life that you really needed to mend the fences with. Someone that you knew I need to recover from this breach. We need to come together.

We need to be reconciled. And then the opportunity was gone. That person died. And now the opportunity to fix what needed to fix, say what needed said, is no longer there. I've sat and talked with people who have gone through those kinds of circumstances and not to have been able to do what needed to be done again or say what needed to be said in that opportunity is something that's painful, frankly, to live with even many, many years later.

So what about the greatest relationship of all? What about our relationship with God? Could we, in fact, run the risk of missing out on an opportunity with Him? You know, if we procrastinate, if we fail to respond to Him when we know we should, if we fail to make a covenant when we know He's extended a calling to me, okay, someday.

Or maybe if we have made a covenant with Him, but we've sort of grown lax in that relationship and really haven't pursued it with Him as we should have, could we miss out on what God intends for us? Now, there's an interesting verse in the book of Isaiah that I was recently asked about because the passage seemed to indicate that there is a window of opportunity in some ways that God makes available for a relationship, but if you flip it around, that same verse could also strongly indicate that there could come a time when the time is up, when the window of opportunity is passed, and there is no more time.

Could that relationship with God and what He intends through that be something that we miss out on for lack of attention and lack of dedication? What's a legitimate question to ask and answer? And I think it's a good topic for us to discuss today, and as I sat there listening to Mr. Blue's message, I thought again how incredible it is, how things tie together in the messages. He brought up the point of seeking God. And the title of my message today is, Seek the Lord while He may be found. Isaiah chapter 55. Seek the Lord while He may be found. So let's turn over there today. Let's look at this verse in context and see if we can unpackage it a little bit today and see what we can discover. Isaiah chapter 55.

You recall that Isaiah was a prophet whose ministry spanned the reign of four kings of Judah. And if you look up at various commentaries, some say 40 years, some say 60 years of Isaiah's ministry, we'll just kind of put that range out there, 40 to 60 years. And during the time of his prophecies, he saw some incredible things. He saw the decline and the ongoing decline of Israel in the north first, and eventually they're taking away into captivity, brutally drug out of land by the Assyrians, because they had failed to acknowledge God. And so we spent much of his ministry and his writings as well then, warning the nation of Judah of a similar fate that lay ahead. In fact, his writings to them were prophetic of captivity to come before even that event took place. Isaiah's overall message could be summed up as God's judgment is coming, but so is his comfort. So is his comfort as in salvation, and salvation in Jesus Christ. And that's why we go through the book of Isaiah, and there's so many millennial prophecies of the Messiah in the age to come in the book of Isaiah, because again this flow of this book is summed up as God's judgment is coming, but so is his comfort, so is his salvation. And then the warning on the heels of that is, repent now. Repent now. Act now in light of these things. So as we come up to Isaiah chapter 55, the preceding chapters, basically you have 53, the prophecy of the Messiah to come. We read through that as we keep the Passover service many times. Isaiah 54 then talks about the future millennial restoration of Israel, the glory of Jerusalem to come. Right? Certainly not in this day and age. If you turn on the news, but it is promised by God. And so this is a very hopeful book, because it pertains to what God will yet do for his covenant people Israel. And so then as we come now to Isaiah chapter 55, we find God's invitation to partake of what it is he wants to offer them as a people, and ultimately all of mankind. And it is intended to be a blessing. So Isaiah chapter 55 will begin in verse 1.

And it says, "...ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and you who have no money, come, buy, and eat. Yes, come buy wine and milk without money and without price." It says, "...why do you spend money on what is not bread or your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance." This is ultimately describing salvation. You know, it's a calling that's going to be extended to Israel and Judah in the future on a national scale, okay, in the millennium, as that those nation, or the 12 tribes as a nation, are brought back, settled into the land, and God makes this covenant of peace with them and pours his spirit out upon them.

So it's a blessing yet to come from him, and it's a very encouraging invitation. It was meant to give them encouragement and meant to give us encouragement today along the way as well. Verse 3, carrying on, says, "...incline your ear and come to me, here, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. Indeed, I have given him as a witness to the people, a leader and the commander for the people.

Surely they shall call a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall run to you because of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you." Reminds me of the prophecy in Zechariah chapter 8 verse 23, where it says essentially that people of these multiple nations around will grab the sleeve of a Jewish man, grab hold of the hem of his garment, and say, take us with you. Take us up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, because we've heard he is with you, and you are his people, and we want to be his people as well.

This is the future glory to Israel again one day, back in their land. Carrying on in verse 6, Isaiah gives then an admonishment. It's like, in light of this prophecy to come, the fact that you're going to head into captivity, and that's been laid out before you, and in light, though, of the blessing that is to come that God promises, he lays out an admonishment to them of what their response ought to be.

And so we come to then now the verse I want to jump off from today in Isaiah chapter 55 and verse 6. He says, Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord and he will have mercy on him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Again, in light of the fact that Judah was a nation sliding away from God, facing captivity by the hands of the Babylonians, this is a call to action. It's a call to action right away, because there's still time, there's still hope. The ten tribes of the north are gone, but Judah is still in the land, and there's still an opportunity to turn to God in repentance, to seek the Lord while he may be found, and to call upon him while he is near.

But it's something that needed to happen right away, because the time was going to come when there was no more time, right? The judgment would come, the captivity would take place, and this was not a time for them as a nation then to drag their feet, to procrastinate. This was a window of opportunity for repentance and reconciliation with God, and the call was, act now, respond now, turn to him, seek him, repent, draw near to him, and do it while he may be found.

We know the story. Sadly, Judah as a nation didn't come to repentance, certainly not in this time, in the way that God would have them to, and as a result they eventually, again, carried out of the land into captivity in Babylon for a season. But again, Isaiah 55 verse 6, it's a passage that's essential because there's a duality to it.

It pertained to Judah in that day, a warning, a calling to to seek God today. But it also, during the fulfillment of this passage, literally in the future for the nation, will pertain to them as well in the millennium. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. But you see, brethren, also, in fact, it applies to us today as well. To those who have been extended, a calling by God today, because, remember, this is talking about salvation. It's talking about reconciliation, and a calling then to come into this unified relationship with God in a very special way, to receive his Spirit, to have this covenant.

And so this message, this calling indeed applies to us today as well. And the admonition is the same. For you and me, it's the same. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Because, you see, in our day and age, we are living in an age of approaching judgment upon this world as well.

And I think we can see it coming quicker and quicker than it ever has before. And indeed, the time is coming when there will be no more time. The Bible says Jesus Christ will return like a thief in the night. A thief to the world, hopefully not to us, as we're looking and we're drawing near to God. But the point is, he will come quickly and at an hour that is not expected.

And you and I want to be count worthy to escape all these things and to stand before the Son of Man. So the calling is to us today. There's a window of opportunity that there's a time to respond and a time to act. And the time, indeed, brethren, is now.

The New Living Translation renders Isaiah 55, verse 6, this way. It says, Seek the Lord while you can find him and call upon him now while he is near. And so understand, when God extends a calling to us, it's because he wants a relationship with us.

And he doesn't just sort of come up and ring the doorbell and run, and he answered a door, and you know, nobody's there. No, he extends a calling and he is near to us. He's desiring that relationship and he's desiring a response from us. I mean, I used to play that kid game when I was a kid, right? Five, six years old, we lived in Key West, Florida, and I'd run around with my neighbor friends and we would get into a little trouble. It wasn't too serious, right? But one of our games was to ring the doorbell and hide and see who comes to the door. And of course, somebody's looking around and there's nobody there, right? That's not God. God's calling is a relationship direct today. So he is near when he calls. He will be found if indeed you turn and seek him in response. And so the admonishment is take advantage of it. Take advantage of the relationship. Respond now. Don't delay. Don't let the opportunity go by or the window of opportunity close. If he's calling you, he wants a relationship today. And if you have responded, if you've entered into a covenant relationship with God already, don't grow slack in that relationship. Continue seeking him diligently day by day by day. Seek him in prayer on your knees. Seek him through his word because his will is here, his purpose, and his character. His desire for you and your purpose is here. You seek God and who he is through these words of study on a continual basis. In fasting and meditation, we have our spiritual disciplines that help to draw us near to him. But it has to happen today because the time may come when there is no more time. And for each and every one of us, we may not always know when that will be. The New English translation renders Isaiah 55 verse 6 this way. It says, seek the Lord while he makes himself available and call to him while he is nearby. And so again, the passage really does the note a sense of urgency to the matter, as in, you don't want to put this relationship off. You don't want to wait until someday. I've had things that I've had on sort of the shopping list that's someday items, and I don't need it now, but someday it would be nice. So you just kind of watch the price. You watch the price, and hopefully one day you can jump on it when the price is right. Well, the price is right in our calling today, and we cannot take on the attitude of seeking God someday, because you see the time will come when there is no more time. Seek repentance, seek reconciliation, seek closeness in that relationship while he may be found and while he is near.

Understand, brethren, God desires to forgive us of our sins and to have that relationship with us today. But when we know to seek Him, but we choose not to, or if we've committed to a relationship through baptism—I was baptized 20 years ago, but maybe today I'm not really doing much about it—then we run the risk of God withdrawing from us and distancing Himself from us, not because He's rejected us, but because we've rejected Him. We say, God, I'll just kind of keep you at arm's length.

You know, I know you're there, and that's comforting, right? But just keep you at arm's length. And God says, seek me, draw near to me today. Notice 2 Chronicles chapter 15 in this perspective.

2 Chronicles chapter 15, again, this concept of God's response to us being very much predicated upon. What's our response to Him? 2 Chronicles chapter 15 in verse 1 says, Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded. And he said, and he went out to meet Asa, and he said to him, Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. He says, The Lord is with you while you are with him.

That's a very interesting phrase to consider. It says, The Lord is with you while you are with him.

He says, If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. There's many, many prophecies that were given to Israel, actually, before they went into the Promised Land. And God said, Don't forget me, and don't turn away from me, but actually I know you, and you will, and you'll turn, and you'll follow other gods, and you'll forsake the Lord your God. But then calamity will come, and you'll cry out to me, God says, but I won't hear you.

I'll hide my face. I won't be near to you, I'll be far from you. Not because he wasn't the leaven God and desired them to be his people, but because they had pushed him away by conscious decision. So again, God very, very much responds to us according to how we respond to him.

Verse 3 says, For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest and without law. But when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel and sought him, he was found by them. We're talking actually about a sincere repentance here.

Esa did a lot to help turn the nation back towards looking to God, certainly in the early years of his kingship. So this was sincere, not just the cry of desperation at a difficult time. Verse 5, he says, In those times there was no peace, no one who went out nor anyone who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. So nation was destroyed by nation, city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. Verse 7, he says, But you be strong, do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded. And when Esa heard these words in the prophecy of O Dead the Prophet, he took courage, removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities, when he had taken the mountains which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim, and he restored the altar of the Lord that was before the vestibule of the Lord. Verse 9, he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. God was near. God was present. He wanted that relationship. Verse 10 says, So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month on the fifteenth year of the reign of Esa, and they offered to the Lord at that time seven hundred bowls, seven thousand sheep from the spoil which they had brought. And they'd entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul. They made a vow. They made a covenant. We will seek him wholeheartedly. You know, this is a real and a sincere effort to reach out to God and to reestablish that relationship again. Verse 13, it says, And whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

Then they took an oath before the Lord, and with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and ramswarms, and all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with all their soul, and he was found by them. And the Lord gave them rest all around. And so again, brethren, God so often responds according to how we respond to him.

And if we seek after him in righteousness, if we have a sincere desire for that relationship, and with our whole heart, seek for him. Not just, you know, it was convenient without you, but now I have some distress, and it would be kind of handy to have you around. That's not going to get results from God. What's going to bring results is a wholehearted effort of reconciliation.

Of turning, which is what Israel needed to do, in repentance to God, unified with him again.

And at least in this case, during this time of Aces' reign, there was a restoration in that relationship as they sought the Lord their God, and he was found by them. Indeed, it was a blessing to them. So if we seek God, that will be the response. But if we snub God, if we just sort of keep him at arm's length or say, okay, it's kind of nice to have you around when I need you, but this isn't a true seeking, this isn't a true relationship, then what we're going to find is that God is not going to be near, he's going to be far, because we have pushed him away by our response.

Notice Proverbs chapter 1 and verse 20.

Proverbs chapter 1 and verse 20.

Proverbs 1 verse 20 says, Wisdom calls aloud outside. She raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses at the openings of the gates in the city.

She speaks her words. I want you to think of wisdom as, in this case, a personification of God calling aloud, because wisdom comes from God and God cries forth and his lips bring wisdom, and he is wisdom. So as this is written, it's wisdom calling forth, but the point is actually a relationship with God. He's calling to us. Verse 22 says, How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorned delight in their scorning and fools hate knowledge, turn at my rebuke. Surely I will pour out my spirit upon you. I will make my words known to you. Turn is that reference to repentance. Again, it's a change in direction. It's a restoration with God, and that's what was being cried out for in Isaiah chapter 55 and verse 6. Carrying on, he says, But because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded.

Because you disdained all my counsel and would have none of my rebuke, I will also laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your terror comes. When your terror comes like a storm and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you, he says, Then I will, you will call to me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. It shows that God's patience is there, but if people refuse to listen and they say, I'm just fine without you, God, thank you very much. I'm going to do this my own way, he says, fine, you can do that. But you will indeed receive the result of doing it your own way. And when that result comes and suddenly you decide to cry out to me, I may not be near.

I may not be found. And we may end up living with what it is we, you know, laid the groundwork for ourselves. Verse 28, then, again, they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me because they hated knowledge and they did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would have none of my counsel. They despised my every rebuke. Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled to the full with their own fancies.

For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

But whoever listens to me will dwell safely and will be secure without fear of evil.

And so, again, it's much better, brethren, to seek the Lord while he may be found than it is to kind of ignore him, refuse him, reject him. And then one day we come to our senses or recognize we're in trouble and cry out hoping he's somewhere nearby, somewhere within earshot, that he'll listen and that he'll respond. Again, there's many places in the Scripture that says, he stands ready. Seek him. But there's also many places as well that says, if you reject him and refuse him, and then you cry out and it's not a sincere repentance, he's not near. And you're not going to find him. Again, because we have put the great distance there. Not necessarily because God is afar off. Think about in the Bible, okay, you know, we think of God hiding himself, and that is there in Scripture, and we'll touch on that. But think about mankind hiding themselves from God.

Where's the first reference to that? Anybody, I'll throw it out there, anybody remember?

Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve, right. The garden of Eden. They sinned, and God's walking in the midst of the garden in the cool of the day, and they're hiding, right? That's kind of the human reaction. We sin and we want to run and hide from God. That's actually when we should run to God, seeking to be restored again, but they hid from God. I was thinking about it as well. Another one comes to mind of hiding from God, hiding from Jesus Christ, Isaiah 53. We read through that prophesiness as in, we hid as it were our face from Him, speaking of the Messiah. So the proclivity of man oftentimes is to run and hide from God. God says, don't do that. Draw near to me, and I'll draw near to you, and that's how this relationship indeed must work. But it takes our part, seeking Him while He may be found. Again, verse 32 here in Proverbs chapter 1 says, the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

So rejecting God outright, okay, is going to be something that leads to our downfall. But, you know, what about being in a covenant relationship with Him, but you just sort of ignore that?

You just sort of put God on the back burner, and you really haven't spent time in His Word, really haven't spent time in prayer. It says complacency as well of fools will destroy them.

So rejecting God, that will lead to trouble. Complacency, that will lead to trouble as well, and it creates conditions where God is far from us. We don't ever want to be there.

We want to draw near to Him today. There's also conditions which, as the Bible shows us in many places, do separate us from God, build a wall of separation. Isaiah 55, pardon me, Isaiah 59, Isaiah 59.

If God is near and God can be found in certain time and places and conditions, there's also conditions that can separate us from Him. In Isaiah 59 verse 1, it says, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, nor is ear heavy, that it cannot hear. He says, But your iniquities have separated you from your God.

He says, You've done that. It wasn't God, but it was us in our sins, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear. So again, sin builds this wall of separation. Rejection builds this wall of separation between mankind and God, where now He is far from us.

He is not near. He is not easily found. And that doesn't mean we can't come back from a state of separation and find Him again through sincere repentance. Indeed, we must. And that is what the verse was crying for. Seek and turn and restore, and I will abundantly pardon, God says. But it has to be in sincerity. And the fact is, again, there's various times and places where God can see Him afar off. Truly, you are a God who hides yourself. Exclaimed Isaiah in Isaiah 45, 15.

Truly, you are a God who hides Himself. Why do you stand afar off, O Lord? Why do you hide in times of trouble? Psalm chapter 10 in verse 1. How long, Lord? How long will you hide your face forever? You know, where are you? We cry to you. We seek you, and you're not there. Again, there's time and place and circumstances that can build that in. And suddenly we come to our senses and cry out, and we might say, well, where is God? And the question really is, well, where have you been in that relationship with God? Draw near to Him, and He'll draw near to you. And we can find that admonition over and over and over throughout God's Word. So when times of trouble come, and it's a result of the rejection of God or simply ignoring Him, He's not going to naturally seem close by. But understand, in this relationship He desires, He will be close to us if we seek Him. He will be found, and even in our distresses, He will be there. Psalm chapter 32 in verse 6.

Psalm chapter 32 verse 6. You know, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. Psalm chapter 32 and verse 6.

Here's Psalm of David, Psalm 32 and verse 6. It says, For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to you at a time when you may be found. Again, when's God going to be found? Well, it's when we're near to Him and we're seeking Him, and that relationship is strong and solid. It's referencing the people crying out as the godly. Everyone who is godly shall pray to you in a time when you may be found. Surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near Him.

You are my hiding place, David said. You shall preserve me from trouble. You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. And so this is the kind of relationship we want to build with God, where we are the godly. We are seeking Him. We're taking on His character and nature, and He is found by us. Again, we can push Him away through ignoring Him, through complacency, throughout rejection. But we can draw near to Him also through repentance, through responding to His call, and through seeking Him continually in righteousness. And if we do that, if we truly seek Him, He will always be found by us. There'll never be a time where God is not near to us if we maintain this relationship, if we're not complacent. If we seek the Lord, well, He may be found and draw near to Him. Psalm 145 verse 17. Psalm 145 verse 17 says, The Lord is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. Again, in truth. It says He will fulfill the desire for those who fear Him. He will also hear their cry and save them. The Lord preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. And so a right relationship, brethren, is founded in obedience and in truth. It's what God is looking for, and it is what draws Him near and brings Him close and reconciles us to Him. And that's the message for today. Grow your relationship with God while it's called today. Respond now. Don't wait until someday when you're in a distress and you say, I think I need to seek God today, and He will be there in the distress.

Book of Revelation chapter 3 talks about Jesus Christ. He says, I stand at the door and knock.

You know, how long does somebody have to knock and keep knocking and keep knocking, and we don't answer before they stop knocking? And somebody come for a visit recently, and I said, you know, I'll be back in my office, so when you get here, would you text me? Because our house is kind of long, and I'm on the far end, and they might be at the door knocking and ringing the doorbell, and I never open the door. Eventually, they're going to go away, right? So God is there calling. Jesus Christ is there knocking, and He says, anyone who hears my voice and opens, I will go in and dine with Him. So the response is upon us, and that responsibility to open to them and to be near. Isaiah chapter 55 verse 6 is a very inspiring verse, expressing God's desire for a personal relationship with us, but if you flip it over, again, it comes with the warning. If you resist God long enough, it's going to have dire consequences. It's the warning to us, that was the warning to Judah. It's the warning even to the world today, and it applies to a degree, even to the world around us today. If you resist God long enough, it's going to have dire consequences.

Amos chapter 8, let's notice here in terms of the world. You know, what kind of consequences could the world face by, you know, ignoring God and ignoring His message? Amos chapter 8, God reveals this word through His gospel message, doesn't it? And the gospel is described as going out as a witness, as a warning, as a calling. It's actually an invitation from God to the world to respond, but it won't always be that way. Mankind, by and large, has ignored God, has ignored the gospel message. They're not packing the churches of truth, okay? This world is heading in its own direction, and frankly, for them and for the message, there will come a time when there is no more time. Amos chapter 8 and verse 11 says, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God, that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of the hearing of the words of the Lord. In other words, that which was readily available is gone.

The gospel went out. The television program was there. The radio program was there for decades. You can go online. There's the Church of God's website. Here's the Church of God program. Here's things you can find and see in here. It's just a click away, right? It's easily there, but it says, there's coming a drought. There's coming a famine. There's coming a thirst, not of physical food and water, but of the Word of God, and it will no longer be found for a time as it once was. And people are going to wonder what happened. Where's the Word? I remember we had a church, what am I saying, Kingdom of God Bible Seminar going back probably in 2011, 2012, somewhere in there. I remember an individual came for the seminar, and she was so happy that she found us. Because she says, you know, I have video tapes of the old World Tomorrow programs and the Worldwide Church of God, and I listened to those, and I got the magazines and the booklets, and suddenly it stopped, and I went looking for it, and it was gone, and I thought, it's the famine of the Word.

But then she eventually found us, came to this seminar and said, I'm so glad. I listened to your program, I take your magazine, and a couple other organizations at the Church of God as well. I subscribed to what they're putting out, and she was excited and refreshed to have found the Word. But again, there was this momentary panic, like, this is it! It's the famine of the Word. It's the famine of the Word. The day will come when the day comes, and there is no more time. And apparently, some of those who once rejected what they heard, or were just kind of complacent someday, suddenly go on a scramble to find what they knew they needed to find, but it was not there.

Because the window of opportunity had closed. Verse 12 again, Amos chapter 8 verse 12 says, They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east, they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it. In that day the fair virgins and the strong young men shall faint from thirst. Again, it's a prophecy of duality, but it points to very much, again, the end of our age. And it's not the lack of water. They're thirsty for it's the word of God, but it's no longer going to be near. And it's no longer going to be found. No matter how hard they seek for it, it's silence. And there's a number of reasons that will come. Ultimately, nothing will happen apart from God allowing it, but you know what? This is our typical human reaction. You know, just kind of be unaware of what it is we really need until it's not there anymore. You know, that was the car. They sold it right after the fact. That was it. And in such the case here, people said, we heard about this. We knew what was coming. Now we'll respond, but where's the word of God to be heard? Well, this event apparently occurs sometime before the two witnesses come on the scene. They will come three and a half years just prior to Jesus Christ's return, okay, and they will preach and they will proclaim. But it would seem that for a time there will be a famine of the word. Could we be getting close to that? I don't think we know how far off that is, but I do think we could be inching closer. Did you know that the internet traffic to ucg.org website has fallen by about 50% over the course of the last few years? You might say, well, people aren't interested as much. Well, that could possibly be, but you know what has actually been discovered.

For a number of years, you typed in anything related to Sabbath or Holy Days and other things related to what we teach as a church, and ucg.org popped up at like one, two, three on the top of the search engine, like bang, bang almost every single time. And it's simply not happening anymore. Hundreds of thousands of visitors have disappeared, and what appears to be the case, as discovered by our web department, major search engines, in fact, seem to be deliberately hiding our website, hiding our articles, hiding our videos from people searching for biblical truth. And it's not just us, but it seems like websites that don't fit the dynamic of the day are being suppressed and dropping down to where they're hard to find. It's not the famine of the word, but one day you could click on, and there is no more ucg.org. Well, it's okay. You've got your Bible. This is where we live, right? But the fact is, one day it could be gone. One day it will be gone. So I've actually started side point re-thinking my strategy on literature, because for years all these boxes of literature just kind of piled up around and, you know, got dusty and took up space. And I came to a point quite a number of years ago where I thought, you know, this is all online. I'll just kind of move this along and make some space. And now I've kind of started reversing that thinking a little bit again, and at least holding on to some print material. It's coming, a famine of the hearing of the word. Some people won't want to hear it, but the point is those who do, God will not be near through that preaching for a time. So what can we do now to prepare? Well, kind of like Joseph in Egypt, let's use the years of plenty to prepare for the years of less. Let's seek God while He may be found. Let's do what we can to study in His Word to use the resources that are plenteous in their availability to us today to grow in our understanding and our knowledge and to seek Him, because again, this time is coming. The gospel message calls all to repent of sin and to live by every word of God, and if few in the world will hear it and respond.

We need to be prepared to receive them, but sadly, many will reject it. For you and I, brethren, today is our time. Today, the calling has been extended to us, and today, now, is when we must respond. 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Let's go to the New Testament for a few minutes. 2 Corinthians chapter 6, the writings of the Apostle Paul. This is our window of opportunity, and this is where God has drawn close to us. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 1. Paul says, We then, as workers together with Him, also plead with you. Paul says, we're pleading. This isn't the casual conversation. This is a plea to you as the people of God. Do not receive the grace of God in vain. He's saying, do something with what you know, with the mercy you've received, with the Spirit of God that is in you. Do not treat it like some vain thing or something that's common in every day. Do not receive the grace of God in vain. Verse 2. For he says, In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold now, today, is the accepted time. Behold now is the day of salvation.

And so the time to respond to God's calling in our life is now. Out of the billions of people that live on the face of the earth to be called a fruit, first fruit of God, and to receive His Spirit, brethren, that is very precious. It's very unique. There's nothing we ever, ever want to take for granted. God says, I want a relationship with you. And it's not a mistake, right? It's not time and chance. It's not, you just happen to be in the right place at the right time. No, God personally extended this calling to you. He sought you out. He said, You seek me while I may be found. This is our acceptable time, and this is our day of salvation. And as such, we seek the Lord. That's the calling. And that's the admonition, while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near, because we're not promised tomorrow. And I may get in my car tonight after we've had a beautiful potluck. I planned a lot of activities for the next year. I may be on my car ride on the way home, thinking about all the enjoyable times we're going to have together. I may not get there.

This is our time. We must not let the window of opportunity pass us by. One day, there will be the time where there is no more time. Jesus Christ will return. And if we haven't drawn close to God today, we may be indeed finding ourselves on the outside somewhere far from God, a place that nobody would want to be. Let's conclude in Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25, very familiar, but powerful part of Scripture. Matthew chapter 25 and verse 1, a parable of Jesus Christ. It's the 10 virgins. Matthew chapter 25 and verse 1 says, In the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps but took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. In this parable, we understand oil is a type of God's Holy Spirit. And it takes a relationship to build that, doesn't it? And the wise had done so. They'd had that relationship with God. They'd sought Him out. They were full of His Spirit. Their lamp was burning, and they had that spiritual reserve to endure this time, okay, and to wait upon the coming of the bridegroom. But five were not.

If I've neglected that, they were foolish. That relationship with God just wasn't what it could have been. Verse five, it says, But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept, and at midnight a cry was heard, Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet Him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, No, lest there should not be enough for us and you, but go rather to those who sell and buy for yourself. Understand, brother, none of us can get into the kingdom of God by burning someone else's oil in our lamp.

Okay, and that's the message. This is very personal and a direct calling from God, and we individually must respond to seek Him out, to build that relationship. And I can't do it for you and you can't do it for me. We can't burn one another's oil in our lamp just to simply try and be there. We must do this on our own. Verse 10, And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready, they were ready, because they sought God out, they had built the relationship, they had studied His word, they had prayed, they had fasted, they meditated, they drew near to Him, and He had drawn near to them. And they were ready, those went in with Him to the wedding, and the door was shut. It says, Afterward, the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But He answered, and He said, assuredly, I don't know who you are. I can't think of more distressing words to hear from Jesus Christ than, I don't know you.

Who are you? Do I know you? Do we have a relationship? But this was the five foolish, and these were the ones who were unprepared, and the result was, the door was shut, and God was not near now, God was far. In fact, they found themselves shut out.

And again, this parable, it would seem perhaps a type of the end-time church. That's what we come to believe it is. They were all virgins, all had oil, had some measure of God's Spirit. Five of them walked wise, five were foolish, and the door was shut. And Jesus said, I don't know you.

And for those five, God was not near, He was far. They neglected the gift of the Holy Spirit.

They didn't stay connected with Him through prayer, and through study, and through meditation. They did not seek the Lord while He could be found, and the result was, the door to the wedding was shut, and their God was far from them. Brethren, when God calls us, we need to respond.

And if we have responded, if we've gone through the process of baptism, we've made that covenant commitment, we can't just respond once. We have to respond ongoing and continually. This is a relationship. But the time comes when there is no more time, and it's not like you, I don't know, fill out a credit card application or something and say, okay, it's done. I hit send. Now can I come in? This is a relationship, and it takes time to build, and effort to build, and there's a back and forth. Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. So to Judah, that was the admonition. That was Isaiah's prophecy. And unfortunately for a time, they did not respond as God desired, but the question is, will you and I seek the Lord while He may be found? Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake His way and the unrighteous man His thoughts. Let Him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on Him. And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. God says, I am here, and I truly desire for you to come to Me. The story of the prodigal son, right? And the Father ran to Him. God desires that reconciliation if it is sincere and true. What is the point in saying, seek the Lord while He may be found if He can always be found? Indeed, again, there comes a time when there is no more time, and the admonishment for us today is seek God. Seek His mercy, seek His forgiveness, seek His righteousness, seek His understanding. Seek first His kingdom, because He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. And brethren, as long as we do this with our whole heart, day by day by day, God will never be hidden, and He will never be far from us.