Are You A Passionate Seeker of Jesus?

Are you a passionate searcher of truth — a diligent seeker of Jesus, the one and only true God? That’s a question we want to engage today. The story is told of Rabbi Baruck’s grandson Jechiel who was playing hide-and-seek with another child. Jechiel hid and waited for his friend to search for him. He waited a long time and finally left his hiding place. His playmate was nowhere to be found. Now Jechiel realized that his friend had not even bothered to look for him. With tears in his eyes, he came running to his grandfather. Then Rabbi Baruck also began to weep and said, “That is the way God acts: I hide, but nobody wants to look for me.” ¹ Seeking the Most High, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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#040: How to Grow in Faith: Five Questions to Ask [Podcast]

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This weeks call is:

Who is Jesus is the number one question every person on planet earth must answer. It’s the difference between gaining and losing heaven. The call to action this week is the clarion call — the gospel call to all men – Who is Jesus to you?

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Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:

Question: What is your answer to the question: Who is Jesus? Please leave your response in the comments section below.

Episode Resources

You can find additional information on the subject of John’s Gospel in the resources listed below.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 37 years, emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes

The Greeks as Jesus Seekers

John 12:20–26 (ESV) — 20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

Jesus Seekers: The Hour Has Come

Did you hear what Jesus said here?
He said, ‘My hour has come.’
Up until this point, these words hadn’t fallen from Jesus’ lips.
On the contrary, He was saying the very opposite.
In John 4:24, Jesus said the following.

John 2:4 (ESV) — 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

In John seven, he repeated it.

John 7:30 (ESV) — 30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

While in the Temple, He uttered the same words yet one more time.

John 8:20 (ESV) — 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

Gentiles Seeking Jesus: A Pattern

Notice a super-significant potion of God’s overall plan of the ages here in John’s gospel.
At the end of His life, when His hour had come, the Greeks, members of the Gentile race of men, had come to seek Jesus out.
They flagged Phillip down.
Why Phillip?
Well, probably because he had a Greek name.
Maybe Phillip’s name had something to do with the area he came from, which had significant Gentile connections — Bethsaida in Galilee.
All the rest of the disciples had Jewish names — not Greek.²
That could be why these Greeks tied their wagon to Phillip — you people comfort level means a great deal.
So, get it now — Jesus had been saying all along – my hour is not yet, my hour is not yet, and now for the first time – right about two weeks before the end of his life, Jesus says, my hour is here.
Why is that significant?
Well, at the very beginning of His life, at the tender age of two, Gentiles, most likely, Babylonian Magi, came to seek Him out also.
So, at the beginning of His life, and in the end, Gentiles were seeking Jesus.
That’s no fluke — or coincidence.
There are several truths we need to glean here.
For one, the gospel of Jesus Christ is not just for Jews only.
Jesus was a Jew — He came to His people, His nation, but He didn’t just come for them.
He came for the Gentiles also.
The second truth we must acquire is that now that he has come, Gentiles must continue to seek Him out.
Not just the Magi, not just the Greeks — all Gentiles in every generation on planet earth.
You know, there are only three races of men as far as God is concerned: Jew, Gentile, and the church of God.
The reference for that is in First Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 10:32 (ESV) — 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,

The responsibility of the races is to seek Jesus, to search Him out: that’s Jews, that’s Greeks, that’s followers of Jesus.
The Greeks said, ‘We want to see Jesus.’
What about you? — is this your desire? — do you want to seek Him?
Mark it down on planet earth. There are Self-seekers or Jesus seekers.
Spurgeon said the following:

Self-seekers are self-losers.³

Matthew 16:25 (ESV) — 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Are you a Jesus-seeker or a self-seeker — are you a winner or a loser.
If you are not seeking Jesus, you are a loser at life’s fight.

Matthew 16:26 (ESV) — 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

Yes, you need to seek Jesus for salvation, but the quest for Jesus doesn’t end once you receive Him as Savior.
Because Jesus is not just Savior, He also is Lord.
And, Lord means that He has an opinion about who you marry, what job you work, where you live, what church you go to, and, most critically, what you are to do with your time on planet earth.

What Seeking Jesus Is Really like

Now, when we say ‘seek the Lord,’ — seek Jesus — what is that like — what does that process look like?
At times, it’s like this passage in the book of Acts.

Acts 17:26–27 (ESV) — 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,

What is seeking Jesus really like?
It’s feeling your way toward Him.
Now that’s an odd term, or at least it seemed that way to me.
I’ve read this passage any number of times on my spiritual journey and always wondered, ‘what does feeling have anything to do with seeking God?’
‘Feeling’ seems like the wrong realm.
It doesn’t sound very spiritual.
But, that’s what the scripture says seeking Jesus is like.
It adds that He is actually not far from any one of us even though it seems like He is.
And, with that thought, here’s the definition of the day.
The Greek word ‘feel their way toward’ is the word we want to look at today.
In context, this word ‘psephizo’ (say-La-fowl) means to grope or to feel about uncertainly or blindly (as if searching).
Louw Nida says that the word ‘psephizo’ means to make an effort, despite difficulties, to come to know something when the chances of success in such an enterprise are not particularly great.⁴
Now, the word is a verb, it’s an action that we must engage in.
You can hear the action part in the definition of the word.
Listen to it again — making an effort – that’s the action — despite difficulties to come to know something about God and His will concerning the situations you face.
Go to Luke’s gospel now, and we’ll see this same Greek word in a different context.

Luke 24:39 (ESV) – 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

After Jesus’ resurrection, He appeared on several occasions to His disciples.
On one incident, the disciples were in such shock and disbelief at His sudden appearance that they thought they saw a ghost.
I mean, a fear streak scurried down their back when Jesus just popped in.
You might have the same reaction.
Seeking their reaction to His sudden unexplained appearance, Jesus reassures them.
How does He do it? — He uses this same Greek word, ‘psephizo’ (say-La-fowl), which again means to make an effort, despite difficulties, to come to know something.
What was the difficulty the disciples faced in this case? — dealing with what they thought was a ghost.
How did Jesus tell them to overcome their fear? – by ‘psephizo’ (say-La-fowl) ‘making an effort despite the difficulty to come to know that He is real and not a ghost — how? — by touching Him.’
So you see, in this case, the seeking of Jesus was in the physical realm — it involved physical contact — ‘touch me, handle me,’ Jesus said.
Now, that’s not the kind of ‘seeking’ of Jesus that we are to engage.
In our day, in our dispensation of grace — we cannot touch Jesus physically.
We are to seek Him spiritually — that is after the Spirit by the Word of God.
That’s kind of ‘touching’ we must do.
Despite that, some still want to operate in the physical.
They yearn to see Jesus physically.
Maybe, they hear a testimony of how someone who went to heaven and talked to Jesus or had a vision where Jesus appeared to them.
They want to have that same experience.
The bottom line is that they want to know Jesus after the flesh.
Your wasting your time with this type of desire — it’s not healthy.

Romans 10:6–8 (ESV) — 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);

Some have indeed seen Jesus in a spiritual vision as the Spirit of God willed.
Like John, for example — He saw Him on the Island of Patmos.
He had a spiritual vision – one of the gifts of the Spirit went into operation that day.
Now you know, you can locate people by what they say.
So, when someone hears of this kind of vision, the first thing they want to know is what does Jesus look like?
That’s a locater.
It’s totally and completely unimportant what Jesus looks like.
What is vital and critical to your life is what did He say in the vision.
The Words of Jesus are life.
The physical yields nothing at all — that’s the Word of the Lord.
Hear it now.

John 6:63 (ESV) — 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

So again, in this seeking of Jesus, there is this reaching out from your heart to Him — this feeling after Him — this groping in the dark like a blind-man — this making an effort despite difficulties to come to know something about God and His will concerning the situations you face.
Look here in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 12:18–19 (ESV) — 18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them.

That’s the physical mountain — Sinai — that the writer of Hebrews points his finger at.
We are coming to seek the physical aspect of God — the mountain, the fire, and the trumpet blaring.
Magnificent as it was — that’s not our realm.
We have not touched that — that’s that Greek word again ‘psephizo.’
That’s not how we come.
What have we come to?
Dropdown a few verses.

Hebrews 12:22–24 (ESV) — 22 But you have come (not to Sinai but to) Mount Zion (spiritual) and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Seek Jesus after the Spirit, not the flesh.
Now, First John one and verse one.

1 John 1:1 (ESV) – 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—

John is saying, ‘Look, we touched Him – ‘psephizo’ — same Greek word.
We handled Jesus — He rubbed shoulders with Him — we ate with Him — we did all the physical stuff together.
But Jesus ascended back to God the Father.
He is coming again — a second time — but He is not here yet.
So in the fact that he is not here physically, we have to seek Him if we want answers to life’s situations.
That is, there are times when you have to feel after the Lord in a somewhat ‘blind way’ — like a blind man groping in the dark.
You’re hunting for answers, you’re looking for understanding, and trying to glean direction.

Seekers of Jesus: On a Quest

Seekers are on a quest.
A quest is an action undertaken to achieve a goal. The achievement of the goal is possible only at the expense of arduous effort and a conscious process of labor.⁵
Arduous effort, conscious process of labor — are you hearing those words?
These adjectives are all part of seeking Jesus.
I used to wonder why this process is complicated.
Why didn’t the Lord make it easy to get the help we need?
Doesn’t He realize that we need the answer, like yesterday?
Well. Of course, He does.
Why does it seem like He hides or is hard to find in the situations you need Him?
Well, the reality of it is that He is NOT hard to find.

Hebrews 4:16 (ESV) — 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

So, you see, The Lord is not hard to find — He is right there all the time – it just appears that God’s distant sometimes.
This is a part of seeking God that is often misunderstood.

2 Peter 3:18 (ESV) — 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

It is the growing part — the developing part – the portion that occurs in the process of seeking.
You’re seeking Him — putting pressure on His Word — you’re a constant presence in His Presence, that is, at His Throne.
When you do that, development happens.
With that thought, here’s the quote of the day.
Smith Wigglesworth said the following.

The Lord says He feeds the hungry with good things, but the satisfied He sends away empty. If you want to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the grace of God, get hungry enough to be fed, be thirsty enough to cry, be broken enough you cannot have anything in the world without He comes Himself.

Growth occurs when you persevere and not just when things get handed to you.
You press in – you get the answer – but in spiritual matters, you receive more than you bargained for.
Why? – because you exercised yourself in tenacity when you reached out to God.
Like Jacob, you persevered and prevailed for the prize you sought.
The contrary winds of opinion did not deter your determination.
With the answer to your prayer, you not only have the supply that you were looking for — you unknowingly acquired something else — a measure of spiritual growth.
Congratulations, you grew up some throughout the seeking process.
The journey made you stronger because you exercised something the Bible calls ‘patience.’

The Power of Patience When Seeking God

When I say ‘something the Bible calls’ patience,’ that’s the way the KJV translates the Greek word ‘hypomone.’

James 1:3–4 (KJV) — 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

The Greek word ‘hypomone,’ or patience, here in James 1:3 means endurance or perseverance.
The trying of your faith produces endurance.
Testing your faith yields perseverance.
What is perseverance anyway?
It is persistent determination.
With that thought, here’s the illustration of the day.

W. A. Criswell, long-time beloved pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, told a story about an evangelist who loved to hunt. This hunterhe man bought two setter pups that were topnotch bird dogs. He kept them in his backyard, where he trained them.

One morning, an ornery, little, vicious looking bulldog came shuffling and snorting down the alley. He crawled under the fence into the backyard where the setters spent their days. It was easy to see he meant business. The evangelist’s first impulse was to take his setters and lock them in the basement so they wouldn’t tear up that little bulldog. But he decided he would just let the creature learn a lesson he would never forget.

Naturally, they got into a scuffle in the backyard, and those two setters and that bulldog went round and round and round! The little critter finally had enough, so he squeezed under the fence and took off. All the rest of that day he whined and licked his sores. Interestingly, the next day at about the same time, here came that same ornery little bulldog—back under the fence and after those setters. Once again those two bird dogs beat the stuffing out of that little bowlegged animal and would have chewed him up if he hadn’t retreated down the alley. Would you believe, the very next day he was back! Same time, same station, same results.

Once again after the bulldog had had all he could take, he crawled back under the fence and found his way home to lick his wounds. “Well,” the evangelist said, “I had to leave for a revival meeting. I was gone several weeks. And when I came back, I asked my wife what had happened. She said, ‘Honey, you just won’t believe what’s happened. Every day, at the same time every morning, that little bulldog came back in the backyard and fought with our two setters. He didn’t miss a day! And I want you to know it has come to the point that when our setters simply hear that bulldog snorting down the alley and spot him squeezing under the fence, they immediately start whining and run down into our basement. That little, old bulldog struts around our backyard now just like he owns it.”⁶

Persistent determination possesses the enemy.
There is nothing the enemy can do if you just keep coming if you just keep getting and going at it again.
Something else to know about the word patience is that it is not long-suffering — it’s not putting up with something.
It’s not just getting your head beat in.
That’s how some of our modern translations like the ESV handle the Greek word ‘hypomone.’

James 1:3–4 (NKJV) — 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Endurance — persistent determination is the correct translation.
Notice something in this passage in James — when you seek the Lord, you receive more than you bargained for.
You not only the answer you seek, but you grow in persistent determination.

Hebrews 12:1 (ESV) — 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Run your God-chosen race with endurance — with persistent determination.
Now there’s a question that arises here as we gaze at what the writer of Hebrews tries to communicate.
Ask yourself this question, and with that, let’s make this the question of the day.
So, Hebrews 12:1 says that we are to run with endurance: now ask yourself out of all the spiritual qualities which the Lord could have inserted in here; why did He pick ‘endurance’ as the quality you need to run this Kingdom of God race?
How come the Lord didn’t say, ‘Run with love the race that is set before us, or run with faith?
Why is it patience or endurance?
Why? Patience is what wins races.
Listen to John on the Island of Patmos.

Revelation 1:9 (ESV) — 9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

John didn’t say, ‘Hi, I’m your brother John. I am on this stinking island because I love Jesus.’
No, that’s not what he said — what John pointed his finger at ‘the patience of Jesus Christ.’
John says, ‘Yes I am here on this stinking island, but the patience of Jesus Christ – His persistent determination is what will carry me through.
God is persistent, and you should strive in your everyday life to be just like Him.
Ever be seeking Jesus.
You guys have a great God week in Jesus precious Name, Amen.

What to Do When You Feel Like Giving Up

References:

Gebhard Maria Behler, “What is God’s Game?” in A Treasury of Catholic Digest, Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002). ↩
Craig S. Keener and John H. Walton, eds., NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), 1837. ↩
C. H. Spurgeon, The Salt Cellars: Being a Collection of Proverbs, Together with Homily Notes Thereon, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 145. ↩
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 330. ↩
Leland Ryken et al., Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 690. ↩
Charles R. Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 439–440. ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

Are You A Passionate Seeker of Jesus?

Podcast: Light on Life Season 7 Episode 39

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

Click Play to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in Stitcher Radio

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Who is Jesus is the number one question every person on planet earth must answer. It’s the difference between gaining and losing heaven. The call to action this week is the clarion call — the gospel call to all men – Who is Jesus to you?

Join the Conversation

Question: What is your answer to the question: Who is Jesus? Please leave your response in the comments section below.

Episode Resources

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Podcast Notes

The Greeks as Jesus Seekers

Jesus Seekers: The Hour Has Come

Gentiles Seeking Jesus: A Pattern

What Seeking Jesus Is Really like

Seekers of Jesus: On a Quest

Listen to the Audio

Click Play to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in Stitcher Radio

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Who is Jesus is the number one question every person on planet earth must answer. It’s the difference between gaining and losing heaven. The call to action this week is the clarion call — the gospel call to all men – Who is Jesus to you?

Join the Conversation

Question: What is your answer to the question: Who is Jesus? Please leave your response in the comments section below.

Episode Resources

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Podcast Notes

The Greeks as Jesus Seekers

Jesus Seekers: The Hour Has Come

Gentiles Seeking Jesus: A Pattern

What Seeking Jesus Is Really like

Seekers of Jesus: On a Quest

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