“O that I knew where I might find him! (Job 23.3.)
Introduction. We will say nothing at this time about Job. We will take his words as the exclamation of a sinner who knows he’s lost because of sin, and who is looking for the Saviour. There are some who tell us that a man can, if he pleases, in one moment obtain peace from God and joy in the Holy Ghost. Such persons may have experienced it like that. But they are not competent to be judges of others. In many more cases the heart wounded by God finds no consolation by him for a long time after. It was like that for Bunyan. If such is your case, I have a sweet message for you.
(1) Some Hopeful Signs in being a Seeker. First, the seeker has only one aim. The worldling wants fifty kinds of good, while the quickened sinner says, “These will never satisfy/Give me Christ or else I die.” If your one desire is to find Jesus to be washed from sin by his blood, you’re not far from the kingdom. It is a sign of the divine at work in you. Second, the seeker’s desire is intense. He does not say, “Yes, I’d like to be forgiven.” He says, “O that I might find him!” Is your groan from the heart? Or would you rather be forgiven while you go on in sin? Real emotion of the heart God will not despise. Third, the seeker admits his ignorance. People who think they know all about God know nothing. But the seeker says, “O that I knew!” The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our ignorance. A sense of ignorance is a very excellent sign of grace. Fourth, the seeker would find Christ anywhere. He’ll go to any church of any denomination of any rank of respectability, so long as he might find the Saviour there. I myself was obligated to go to a despised chapel to get saved. Do any of these signs apply to your seeking?
(2) Some Reasons why a Gracious God Delays an Answer. The first reason, to display his sovereignty. Ah, that is a word not often mentioned in pulpits. If God gave all men peace as soon as they asked for it, they would begin to think they had a right to it. And so God makes a delay between penitence and faith. Second, he may delay manifesting forgiving mercy to set the heart searching out some forgotten sin. God would then have that thing dragged out of its corner. Third, to make us more useful after. We must first suffer the things we preach before we can preach with effect. Fourth, it may be our ignorance of the way of salvation that is the cause of delay. The way of salvation is one of the hardest things for a sinner to grasp. “Do you mean I am to be saved purely through what another did?” he asks. He can hardly believe it. The gospel is wrapped up in one word, just as Luther and Calvin believed, ‘Substitution,’ Christ standing in man’s place. He takes on sin, and the sinner puts on his righteousness. The just has died for the unjust.
(3) Some Advice to Seekers. First, go wherever Christ goes. Go to where Christ is preached, and go to the Bible. Second, cry after him mightily. If a sermon stirs you, pray over it. Cry out until Jesus comes to you. Next, think much about Jesus. Meditate on the course of his sufferings: his sweating in the garden, the cross lifted up, his joints out of their sockets, etc. Then pretty soon you’ll be asking, “Blessed Jesus, is your death not sufficient for me?” Awakened sinner, dare to trust Christ.
Selection from Conclusion. “Fully rely upon what Christ did, as the way of salvation…But alas! for such of you as will go away and say, ‘The man has talked about salvation, but what matters it to us?’ Yes, go your way; you can afford to laugh to-day at God and his gospel; but…Death is after you, and will soon seize you…You will find it hard work to laugh at Christ then; you will find it dreadful work to scoff at religion then, in that day…Take warning, then, before death comes! take warning!”
