Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Seek the Lord now while he may still be found and call upon him while he is near. Seeking him means the wicked forsake their way and the unrighteous their thoughts and return to the Lord. Now is the accepted time and day of salvation, to be obeyed at once with earnest seeking and without delay while mercy is still near. That opportunity will not last forever, for delay can fix eternal destiny and end in probation closing and mercy no longer granted. Those who seek in earnest with all the heart will find him, for he is near and waiting to be gracious to show mercy and abundantly pardon.
Words and Immediate Context
Seek the Lord while He may be found, and call upon Him while He is near, for the call is urgent and the opportunity remains open now. Seeking Him with all the heart leads to finding Him, and calling means praying to Him while He is near and can still be found. Seeking cannot be separated from the next verse, for it means the wicked forsakes his way and the unrighteous his thoughts and returns to the Lord. That return is a turning from wrong and strange paths back to God, with the assurance that He is merciful and ready to pardon abundantly and fully.
The call stands within a free invitation to everyone who thirsts to come without money and without price, to listen and eat what is good so the soul shall live, and to enter an everlasting covenant. It is joined to God's thoughts and ways being higher than human thoughts and ways as the heavens are above the earth, and to the sure success of His spoken word like rain and snow that water the earth and make it fruitful, bringing life and spiritual nourishment to those who hear and receive it. Seeking Him is the condition for claiming His promises, for those who turn from sinful ways and thoughts and return receive mercy and abundant pardon, and sending forth the gospel and supporting its work helps bring that promised purpose to fulfillment. The same chapter ends in going out with joy and peace, when thorn and brier give way to fir and myrtle as an everlasting sign.
The verse belongs to chapters of reproof to be diligently studied and read as a whole, identified as Isaiah 50-58 and as Isaiah 55-58. Those chapters call pastors and people and especially those in high positions with great responsibilities and great light to arouse from spiritual stupidity, to do thorough work instead of accepting only chosen words, to heed reproof, to stop complaining and evil working, to put away evil works, and to come nigh, repent and be converted because their ways are not accepted. Heeding brings the reformation that must go through the congregation, opens the way to understand Isaiah 60-61, causes Isaiah 62-65 to speak to conviction and conversion of souls, and enables believers in the cities who profess present truth to wake up, give to others what has been given them, and arise and shine with full assurance that angels will impress minds. The section also foretells the work of presenting the warning message to the world and explains the grounds of belief.
It is Christ speaking in yearning tenderness, entreaty and love to sinners of every race and clime as the special objects of His mission, urging even the most hopeless and Satan-entrapped souls to seek now while He can still be found. He came as the Father's image to restore God's moral image in humanity, and men are to listen to Him when He speaks. Those who come to be saved are dear to Him as bought with His blood, He bears long with ungrateful behavior hoping to bring them to repentance through His laborers, and those healed and washed clean in His blood become effective instruments to save others.
Urgency of Present Opportunity
Now is the accepted time and the day of salvation, and the command is to seek at once with earnestness and without delay while mercy is still near and the Lord is still calling and waiting to be gracious. The invitation is not to be resisted, for probationary time is very precious and must not be shortened by one's own hand, and it is addressed even to transgressors and sinners who have sinned all their lives and robbed God of due service. Seeking means forsaking wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts and returning to God in repentance, with the certain promise of mercy and abundant pardon with no conditions and of joy and peace to those who seek in faith. Those who are in earnest will find Him, for He is near and ready to be found, and His ways and thoughts are as high above human ways as the heavens are above the earth, since unlike people who let go of offenders He holds on. It means coming in humility to receive wisdom so that the Lord teaches His way, satisfying hungering and thirsting after God with strong faith and decided testimony, obtaining a deep experience that will stand the test, loving God and keeping His commandments so He will not leave seekers to be spoiled by the enemy, and being stirred mightily for the short work to be done upon the earth, which presses the necessity of arousing to give the last note of warning to save a perishing world.
The opportunity will not last forever, and delay may leave too little time for character to change before eternal destiny is fixed. Each person must therefore make an immediate, deliberate, personal return to God for himself without delay, because dangers beset the path, ingenious subterfuges and scientific problems tempt from allegiance, the adversary is on the track with concealed snares, and many are walking in strange paths. Delaying leaves a person in spiritual darkness and grieving the Holy Spirit, for cherished sins and traits of character can exclude from heaven. The call is urgent because the time for trust is nearly over and the day of reckoning is coming, when death without repentance, judgment when the dead are judged from the books, the closing of probation, mercy no longer granted, and the day of the Lord coming as a thief in the night upon the careless and indifferent will end further seeking. Seeking includes forsaking the wicked way and unrighteous thoughts and returning to the Lord with promise of mercy and abundant pardon, becoming acquainted with the instruction given to John on Patmos for the church in these last days, staying alert and vigilant, keeping humility and the yoke of Christ, and staying on the narrow path that leads to the city of God.
Even those who feel too sinful to claim the promise can still come with contrition and be accepted, for the promise is for sinners and not only for those already perfect. Even a sinner in unbelief who questions whether there is hope in his case, one who has long followed a wrong course, or one who comes at the eleventh hour is still invited to seek now while He may be found, turning wholeheartedly in repentance and surrender of heart and life and accepting grace, for turning to Him is that person's only hope and can still bring salvation. The promise is broad and deep and full, leaving nothing more to ask, and God by it erects a standard against the enemy for the tempted soul when Satan says the sinner is hopeless and tries to steal away blessed assurances and take every glimmer of hope and ray of light, calling for exercising faith, fighting the good fight of faith, wrestling with doubts, and becoming acquainted with the promises. Youth should turn to God in youth while reason remains, repenting sincerely, seeking forgiveness with the whole heart, and offering willing obedience, rather than waiting for a more convenient time that illness or death may remove, and God will accept and bless such seekers and give assurance of acceptance, for His love exceeds even a parent's love and seeking Him leads toward salvation.
A time is coming when those who have wasted their time and opportunities will wish they had sought Him while the opportunity remained.
The call is especially urgent because His judgments are being poured upon the world for wickedness in days like the days of Noah, already in the land by land and by sea, and because God is speaking to His people and to the world by His judgments. A devastating earthquake should awaken spiritual interest to seek God while He offers pardon before the time of judgment, for calamity may come before people have sought Him and delay is dangerous. The closing scenes of earth's history have come, prophecy is fast fulfilling, the hours of probation are fast passing with not a moment to lose, the end is near, and the time is approaching when every case will be decided, so the seeking cannot be delayed. It means seeking now with all the heart, humbling the soul before God, confessing sins, praying more and calling upon Him in prayer while He is near, asking Him to reveal Himself, denying self, ceasing pride and self-indulgence, taking Christ's yoke, feeding on the words of life, and receiving a deeper work of grace in mind and heart that reveals true Christian charity. The Lord will hear such prayers and answer petitions, and He can bless and use those who are humble and obedient and guided by Him and will greatly bless those who seek in this way, whereas pride and self-esteem keep souls from coming and leave a record of sins unconfessed and unforgiven to face in judgment, and to stand still now grieves Christ; only the humbled can be the light of the world amid moral darkness instead of letting the light within become darkness, and without that work no one can see the face of God. It calls the unconcerned and indifferent to repent, flee from the wrath to come, make immediate preparation for Christ's soon return, and not sleep on guard, and it is to be proclaimed by ministers and lay members going forth into the ripening fields with earnest words of warning and the forgotten truths of the Bible, where workers will find a harvest of those who accept the truth and devote their lives to winning souls to Christ.
People Summoned to Seek
The summons reaches the wicked and the unrighteous, transgressors weakened by indulgence of base passion, backsliders, the unconverted, sin-sick souls entrapped by Satan, and all who have wandered, rebelled, and persisted in indifference and impenitence yet can still turn back. It bids them seek now while he may be found and call while he is near, forsaking sinful ways and thoughts and returning with heart and soul and mind and strength to receive mercy and abundant pardon. The promise belongs not only to those already perfect but to sinners who feel too sinful to claim it, for coming with contrition and with a broken and contrite spirit they will be accepted, have sins hidden and iniquities blotted out, and find happiness and healing. That pardoning mercy flows from thoughts and ways as high above human thoughts and ways as the heavens are above the earth, for he dwells with the humble and contrite to revive spirit and heart, in contrast to remaining under wrath while going stubbornly on in covetous iniquity. Refusing to turn puts the soul in peril while his Spirit draws, yet those who find him will praise his name and point other souls in misery and distress to accept and appropriate the same promises.
The same call presses upon members of the church, professed believers who claim his name and claim to believe his Word but have turned away, followed their own way, and stand disunited. It addresses the lukewarm Laodiceans, unrighteous religionists in whom true love for God and unselfish love for others has almost died, churches in every place needing to face their true condition and heed the Laodicean message, and those with names on the books yet unacquainted with the Spirit who must be converted in change of heart to a faith that elevates, ennobles, and sanctifies. Seeking means turning from faithlessness, complaining, faultfinding, murmuring, self-will, and refusal to unite with brethren who do not view matters just alike, to unfeigned gratitude for past mercies and for the light of his Word received into heart and mind, coming into line, filling the appointed place, and harmonizing with brethren. Coming in humility to receive wisdom so that he teaches his way, hungering and thirsting after God with strong faith and decided testimony, seekers obtain a deep experience that will stand the coming test, keep his commandments, are not left to be spoiled by the enemy, are fitted by the Holy Spirit to reflect light to souls in darkness, and are stirred mightily for the short work to be done upon the earth.
Ministers and lay members are summoned to seek God now while opportunity remains, because many walk in strange paths, turning from wicked ways and wrong thoughts and coming back to him for full mercy and pardon. Those entrusted with sacred work and sacred trusts, men in responsible positions, leaders and those serving in institutions, and conference presidents are urged to study and heed these chapters, receive reproof, consecrate themselves fully, put away pride, self-importance, harshness, hardness, indifference, and restrictive control that burdens fellow workers, look to him for power and wisdom to serve faithfully rather than relying on self, and carry out the neglected duty to warn others. Medical missionary workers, physicians, teachers, and workers and leaders in Battle Creek under oppression and injustice, in Sydney, in California and among those claiming the third angel's warning, in Washington, and among those opposing the work centering in Nashville and Graysville are included in the same urgent call without delay.
Every soul from children to the gray-headed is called to seek now while opportunity lasts, pressing on and through Christ getting rid of all sins, which opens heaven and opens the gates of the city of God so that the nations that have kept the truth are welcomed in to go out no more forever, free from all sins. The young in danger of drifting into indifference and pleasure are to be told what God has done through Christ for eternal life, taking hold of that work intelligently and crying aloud without holding back. It is high time to be deeply in earnest for one's own soul and for the souls of children, humbling the heart before God, bringing Christ into family life and the heart, having Christianity in the heart and in the home, educating children for a life devoted to God, giving them a godly pattern to copy instead of managing them as Eli managed his, and never giving over effort until transformed into a different person with steady anchorage and unwavering principle. Leading men especially must make thorough work of gaining this deeper experience and deeper conversion, letting his word work in them and giving service to the Redeemer, persisting until fitted to stand amid last-day perils, for without it there is an account to render and hindering causes will bring divisions, disappointment, and unfavorable representations.
Manner of True Seeking
True seeking begins with a changed attitude that no longer looks to worldly customs and standards or strives to please worldlings as the road to success, but trusts in God, looks to Jesus, builds on the solid rock which is Christ, denies self and takes up the cross to follow Him. It means humbling the self under the mighty hand of God as a little child, drawing near to God, confessing sins to Him and to one another, putting sin away, forsaking wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts, and returning to receive mercy and abundant pardon. No time is to be wasted in complaint over unsuccessful labor or desire for human praise, for God will not do for human beings what they can do for themselves, yet when the conditions are met He fulfills His word. Taking hold of His strength by living faith makes peace with God, brings surrender of heart, life and will, acceptance of grace and Christ's righteousness, and belief that Jesus forgives instead of trying to overcome and earn assurance by one's own efforts and goodness. Such seeking obeys conscience and truth, keeps the heart open to receive the grace of Christ, seeks His kingdom and righteousness with the whole heart sincerely and truthfully, and through faith which works by love and purifies the soul makes even physicians of souls as well as bodies, because His thoughts and ways are higher than human thoughts and ways as the heavens are higher than the earth and His spoken word waters and brings forth fruit like rain and snow giving seed and bread.
Seeking that finds is wholehearted, and those who seek with all the heart will find Him while He is near and may be found. It is earnest coming in humility to receive wisdom so the Lord teaches His way, satisfying hungering and thirsting after God with strong faith, decided testimony, and enlarged desires and readiness to receive blessing. This is no formal lifeless words but earnest labor that few understand, requiring the powers taxed to the utmost, supplications sent to heaven in earnest contrition of soul, prevailing earnest prayer, and with fasting the mind set to work on pure holy subjects and conversation, thoughts and deportment brought into harmony with the holy faith professed. The heart is kept open so the grace of Christ may enter, which is to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness in sincerity and truth. In this way church members obtain a deep experience that will stand the coming test, love God and keep His commandments so He will not leave them to be spoiled by the enemy, and are stirred mightily for the short work to be done upon the earth.
Such seeking leaves no room for pride, self-importance, self-exaltation, and harshness, but looks to God for the power and wisdom needed to serve faithfully rather than relying on self. It puts away the spirit of taking the place of teacher rather than learner, willingly receiving lessons of humility of mind, meekness and lowliness of heart, for without this humbling no one will see the kingdom of God nor come to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus nor be fitted to teach truth to others. It requires repentance and conversion from burdening fellow workers with restrictive control, turning to God while He may be found and is near. It turns from criticizing worshipers, picking flaws, accusing and faultfinding, and warring against brethren to earnest prayer and spiritual growth, giving strength to dispute every inch of ground against principalities, powers and spiritual wickedness, to fight the good fight of faith girt with truth, righteousness, salvation and the Spirit, and to be ready for the Master's approval as a good and faithful servant. Nor is there place in it for worldly policy, pleasure-seeking company, or divided living for both Christ and the devil, but only unfeigned gratitude for past mercies and the light of His Word received into heart and mind.
Seeking is active and thorough, turning strength to save souls and turning from faithlessness, complaining, faultfinding and murmuring. It uses the means entrusted in sacrificial service, working together with God so others can receive the truth, complying with His conditions by seeking righteousness and working for Him rather than remaining passive in church. It takes saving truth to friends and neighbors, giving to others what the Lord has given, using every voice, influence and ability to win souls with no one excused even if able to do only a little, and bringing Christ into family life in telling children what God has done through Christ so they can have eternal life. It forsakes one's own way, yields self-will, comes into line, fills the appointed place and harmonizes with brethren instead of standing disunited and refusing to unite with those who do not view matters just alike, counting the privilege of returning after going astray cause for gratitude. Those who so seek press on and through Christ get rid of all sins, persist until transformed, are fitted by the Holy Spirit to reflect light to souls in darkness and to work to the praise and glory of Christ, and thus heaven is opened and the gates of the city of God admit the nations that have kept the truth to go out no more forever, free from all sins.
Seeking is personal and direct between God and the individual soul, with each thirsty soul coming himself to the living waters to drink and drink again and be refreshed, for God alone is the fountain and wellspring of life. No one needs to wait for grace to come through any human preacher or lean on the broken reed of human influence and admiration, because a limitless source of power is opened before every soul and each person must find God for himself. Each one should make it first business to seek Him through the word of God and prayer, searching Scripture, learning what God says and obeying it, making peace with God rather than delaying. This means learning under Christ's discipline, taking His yoke and learning His meekness and humility, which brings rest to the soul and a firm hold on the eternal Rock. Only such determined personal effort and openness to the Holy Spirit gives a lasting testimony by which others are converted and He is made known.
Mercy Promised to Seekers
Earnest seekers will find him, for he is near and ready to be found, waiting to be gracious and pledged to show mercy and abundantly pardon all who turn from wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts and return to him. Calling upon him while he is near and may be found means abandoning sinful action and thinking and coming back, and his response is full cleansing and blotting out of sins beforehand to judgment.
His thoughts and ways are as high above human thoughts and ways as the heavens are above the earth. Unlike people who let go of offenders, he holds on, longsuffering and tender in pity, and he does not deal with people as they deal with one another. He dwells with the humble and contrite, and a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart he will not despise, while self-righteousness is as filthy rags and stubborn continuance in iniquity remains under wrath. His spoken word surely accomplishes its purpose like rain and snow that water the earth and make it fruitful, and entering this free invitation without money and without price to listen and eat what is good brings the soul to live in everlasting covenant and to go out with joy and peace when thorn and brier give way to fir and myrtle as an everlasting sign.
Finding him brings forgiveness with assurance of acceptance, happiness and healing, the hiding and blotting of iniquities, quickening from death in trespasses and sins and raising up in Christ by grace through faith, purity of heart to see God and endure his glory, joy and peace, spiritual life and power, rest to the soul, and a firm hold on the eternal Rock. Those who so turn from faithlessness, complaining, faultfinding and murmuring to gratitude for past mercies and the light of his Word receive mercy and abundant pardon and are fitted by the Holy Spirit to reflect light to souls in darkness. The wayward are received, pardoned and transformed when they come.
Trust that God will do exactly as he has said is the victory of faith. The promise to have mercy and abundantly pardon all who forsake wicked ways and return is broad and deep and full, leaving nothing more to ask, and by it God erects a standard against the enemy for the tempted soul when Satan says the sinner is hopeless and tries to steal away blessed assurances and take every glimmer of hope and ray of light. It calls for exercising faith, fighting the good fight of faith, wrestling with doubts and becoming acquainted with the promises, even by the sinner in unbelief who questions whether there is hope in his case. The human part must be met by forsaking sin, confessing sins to him and to one another, humility, surrender of self and continual reliance instead of trying to overcome and earn assurance by own efforts and goodness, while God fulfills his word and sends his word to accomplish its purpose and bring life and spiritual nourishment through gospel work and supporting labor.
The verse gives the terms of salvation and the education of most value, which is the highest knowledge a human being can possess, the knowledge of the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent, kept as the definite object before students for the mental, physical and moral improvement of the whole being. Those who come to be saved are healed and washed clean, shed upon by the light of his countenance, and made effective instruments to save others. Those who find him will praise and honor his name and point other souls in misery and distress to him so they also can accept and appropriate his promises, walking in Christ's light in the Spirit rather than in coldness and lukewarmness blinded by deception.
Warning and Final Application
The call to seek while finding is possible presses the necessity of arousing to give the last note of warning to save a perishing world. Leaders and those serving in institutions are to study and heed Isaiah 50-58 as reproof from the Lord, consecrate themselves fully, and carry out their neglected duty to warn others. That reproof falls especially on those in high positions carrying great responsibilities who have had great light, demanding thorough work instead of accepting only chosen words, heeding reproof, warning God's people to understand what is truth, stopping complaining and evil working, putting away the evil of works, and coming nigh in repentance and conversion because their ways are not accepted of God. Heeding brings the reformation that must go through the congregation of Israel, after which Isaiah 60-61 will be understood and Isaiah 62-65 will speak to the conviction and conversion of souls. The same urgency is an appeal for true conversion in which every person is to come to the Lord and every voice, influence, and ability is to be used to win souls, with no one excused even if able to do only a little, and with prayer for the Holy Spirit to expose the deceiver and free those held captive.
The closing scenes of earth's history have come, prophecy is fast fulfilling, and the hours of probation are fast passing with not a moment to lose. The unconcerned and indifferent are to repent, flee from the wrath to come, make immediate preparation for the soon return, and not sleep on guard. Ministers and lay members are to go forth into the ripening fields with earnest words of warning and the forgotten truths of the Bible, putting away selfishness so the Spirit may be poured out, and where the call is proclaimed workers will find a harvest of those who accept the truth and devote their lives to winning souls. Earnest seekers will find Him in humility to receive wisdom so He teaches His way, satisfying hungering and thirsting after God with strong faith and decided testimony. That is the way to obtain a deep experience that will stand the test before them, to love God and keep His commandments so He will not leave them to be spoiled by the enemy, and to be stirred mightily for the short work to be done upon the earth, bringing wonderful encouragement and uplifting.
The present is the time of grace and opportunity to make thorough work for eternity before the end of this earth's history, before death, and before the judgment when the dead are judged from the books according to their works. Seeking means letting the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and returning with confession and genuine repentance, cleansing from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and humbling the soul under the mighty hand without stopping short. Those who seek in this way will receive mercy and abundant pardon and will be made pure in heart so they can see God, endure His purity and glory, and enter the courts of bliss with the righteous on the right hand instead of being cut down in selfishness and sin with the wicked on the left. Every soul from children to the gray-headed is summoned, and telling children what has been done through Christ so they can have eternal life, taken hold of intelligently, leads to crying aloud without holding back and pressing on through Christ to get rid of all sins. Doing this opens heaven and opens the gates of the city of God and the earth made new, so the nations that have kept the truth are welcomed in, and once inside they go out no more forever, with freedom from all sins.
All ministers are to seek at once with urgent repentance and conversion, rebuking spiritual pride, confessing and making right wrongs done to others, forsaking wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts, and returning to receive mercy and abundant pardon with sins blotted out beforehand to judgment, in preparation to receive the Holy Spirit and to be fitted with the wedding garment for entrance into the kingdom, gained by faithful continuance in well-doing rather than irrelevant theories. The call is urgent because the day of judgment is approaching and people must prepare for it during God's day of preparation, with nothing allowed to distract from getting ready. Cold unbelief must not keep them from God, but His love should burn in their hearts. Christ made this appeal to the backsliding Jewish nation for three years, urging return with forsaking of wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts under promise of mercy and abundant pardon, but they refused their Messiah, and their rejection led to their ruin. Yet those who have rebelled can still turn back, as in Maine a few did and embraced the truth.
Seeking now means perfect faith and prevailing, earnest prayer that comes from real soul hunger, not formal lifeless words that receive no response. It means ceasing to accuse, confuse, censure, condemn, complain about and find fault with brethren, which greatly injures spiritual experience and weakens the forces and is inspired by Satan, and instead loving brethren, restoring them, and building up and advancing the work. It means acting now to take up untouched work in the Southern field and to lay plans to enlighten its neglected cities in that part of the vineyard, where tenderhearted people will respond to proper labor. Turning without delay means seeking wisdom from on high and taking a stand on the true foundation in order to receive pardon, being guarded on every point so as to stand in the great day of test and trial ahead. That guarding is needed because truth and falsehood are so closely mingled that deception is hard to see, and error blinds and blights discernment, but only truth will stand when the difference between the righteousness of the righteous and the wickedness of the wicked will be seen, so the warning is to be pressed especially on the unconcerned and indifferent, urging them to heed, confess and forsake sins.
The invitation is not only to come but to remain, for the Spirit moves people to come and Christ gives the rest and peace they need. Abiding means yielding life to His guidance and wanting to do His will in daily worries and treatment of others. Each person must find God for himself before making Him known to others, and determined personal effort and openness to the Holy Spirit with cooperation with God are necessary for a lasting testimony that converts others and produces lasting results.
Seek the Lord now while he may still be found and call upon him while he is near. Seeking him means the wicked forsake their way and the unrighteous their thoughts and return to the Lord. Now is the accepted time and day of salvation, to be obeyed at once with earnest seeking and without delay while mercy is still near. That opportunity will not last forever, for delay can fix eternal destiny and end in probation closing and mercy no longer granted. Those who seek in earnest with all the heart will find him, for he is near and waiting to be gracious to show mercy and abundantly pardon.
Words and Immediate Context
Seek the Lord while He may be found, and call upon Him while He is near, for the call is urgent and the opportunity remains open now. Seeking Him with all the heart leads to finding Him, and calling means praying to Him while He is near and can still be found. Seeking cannot be separated from the next verse, for it means the wicked forsakes his way and the unrighteous his thoughts and returns to the Lord. That return is a turning from wrong and strange paths back to God, with the assurance that He is merciful and ready to pardon abundantly and fully.
The call stands within a free invitation to everyone who thirsts to come without money and without price, to listen and eat what is good so the soul shall live, and to enter an everlasting covenant. It is joined to God's thoughts and ways being higher than human thoughts and ways as the heavens are above the earth, and to the sure success of His spoken word like rain and snow that water the earth and make it fruitful, bringing life and spiritual nourishment to those who hear and receive it. Seeking Him is the condition for claiming His promises, for those who turn from sinful ways and thoughts and return receive mercy and abundant pardon, and sending forth the gospel and supporting its work helps bring that promised purpose to fulfillment. The same chapter ends in going out with joy and peace, when thorn and brier give way to fir and myrtle as an everlasting sign.
The verse belongs to chapters of reproof to be diligently studied and read as a whole, identified as Isaiah 50-58 and as Isaiah 55-58. Those chapters call pastors and people and especially those in high positions with great responsibilities and great light to arouse from spiritual stupidity, to do thorough work instead of accepting only chosen words, to heed reproof, to stop complaining and evil working, to put away evil works, and to come nigh, repent and be converted because their ways are not accepted. Heeding brings the reformation that must go through the congregation, opens the way to understand Isaiah 60-61, causes Isaiah 62-65 to speak to conviction and conversion of souls, and enables believers in the cities who profess present truth to wake up, give to others what has been given them, and arise and shine with full assurance that angels will impress minds. The section also foretells the work of presenting the warning message to the world and explains the grounds of belief.
It is Christ speaking in yearning tenderness, entreaty and love to sinners of every race and clime as the special objects of His mission, urging even the most hopeless and Satan-entrapped souls to seek now while He can still be found. He came as the Father's image to restore God's moral image in humanity, and men are to listen to Him when He speaks. Those who come to be saved are dear to Him as bought with His blood, He bears long with ungrateful behavior hoping to bring them to repentance through His laborers, and those healed and washed clean in His blood become effective instruments to save others.
Urgency of Present Opportunity
Now is the accepted time and the day of salvation, and the command is to seek at once with earnestness and without delay while mercy is still near and the Lord is still calling and waiting to be gracious. The invitation is not to be resisted, for probationary time is very precious and must not be shortened by one's own hand, and it is addressed even to transgressors and sinners who have sinned all their lives and robbed God of due service. Seeking means forsaking wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts and returning to God in repentance, with the certain promise of mercy and abundant pardon with no conditions and of joy and peace to those who seek in faith. Those who are in earnest will find Him, for He is near and ready to be found, and His ways and thoughts are as high above human ways as the heavens are above the earth, since unlike people who let go of offenders He holds on. It means coming in humility to receive wisdom so that the Lord teaches His way, satisfying hungering and thirsting after God with strong faith and decided testimony, obtaining a deep experience that will stand the test, loving God and keeping His commandments so He will not leave seekers to be spoiled by the enemy, and being stirred mightily for the short work to be done upon the earth, which presses the necessity of arousing to give the last note of warning to save a perishing world.
The opportunity will not last forever, and delay may leave too little time for character to change before eternal destiny is fixed. Each person must therefore make an immediate, deliberate, personal return to God for himself without delay, because dangers beset the path, ingenious subterfuges and scientific problems tempt from allegiance, the adversary is on the track with concealed snares, and many are walking in strange paths. Delaying leaves a person in spiritual darkness and grieving the Holy Spirit, for cherished sins and traits of character can exclude from heaven. The call is urgent because the time for trust is nearly over and the day of reckoning is coming, when death without repentance, judgment when the dead are judged from the books, the closing of probation, mercy no longer granted, and the day of the Lord coming as a thief in the night upon the careless and indifferent will end further seeking. Seeking includes forsaking the wicked way and unrighteous thoughts and returning to the Lord with promise of mercy and abundant pardon, becoming acquainted with the instruction given to John on Patmos for the church in these last days, staying alert and vigilant, keeping humility and the yoke of Christ, and staying on the narrow path that leads to the city of God.
Even those who feel too sinful to claim the promise can still come with contrition and be accepted, for the promise is for sinners and not only for those already perfect. Even a sinner in unbelief who questions whether there is hope in his case, one who has long followed a wrong course, or one who comes at the eleventh hour is still invited to seek now while He may be found, turning wholeheartedly in repentance and surrender of heart and life and accepting grace, for turning to Him is that person's only hope and can still bring salvation. The promise is broad and deep and full, leaving nothing more to ask, and God by it erects a standard against the enemy for the tempted soul when Satan says the sinner is hopeless and tries to steal away blessed assurances and take every glimmer of hope and ray of light, calling for exercising faith, fighting the good fight of faith, wrestling with doubts, and becoming acquainted with the promises. Youth should turn to God in youth while reason remains, repenting sincerely, seeking forgiveness with the whole heart, and offering willing obedience, rather than waiting for a more convenient time that illness or death may remove, and God will accept and bless such seekers and give assurance of acceptance, for His love exceeds even a parent's love and seeking Him leads toward salvation.
A time is coming when those who have wasted their time and opportunities will wish they had sought Him while the opportunity remained.
The call is especially urgent because His judgments are being poured upon the world for wickedness in days like the days of Noah, already in the land by land and by sea, and because God is speaking to His people and to the world by His judgments. A devastating earthquake should awaken spiritual interest to seek God while He offers pardon before the time of judgment, for calamity may come before people have sought Him and delay is dangerous. The closing scenes of earth's history have come, prophecy is fast fulfilling, the hours of probation are fast passing with not a moment to lose, the end is near, and the time is approaching when every case will be decided, so the seeking cannot be delayed. It means seeking now with all the heart, humbling the soul before God, confessing sins, praying more and calling upon Him in prayer while He is near, asking Him to reveal Himself, denying self, ceasing pride and self-indulgence, taking Christ's yoke, feeding on the words of life, and receiving a deeper work of grace in mind and heart that reveals true Christian charity. The Lord will hear such prayers and answer petitions, and He can bless and use those who are humble and obedient and guided by Him and will greatly bless those who seek in this way, whereas pride and self-esteem keep souls from coming and leave a record of sins unconfessed and unforgiven to face in judgment, and to stand still now grieves Christ; only the humbled can be the light of the world amid moral darkness instead of letting the light within become darkness, and without that work no one can see the face of God. It calls the unconcerned and indifferent to repent, flee from the wrath to come, make immediate preparation for Christ's soon return, and not sleep on guard, and it is to be proclaimed by ministers and lay members going forth into the ripening fields with earnest words of warning and the forgotten truths of the Bible, where workers will find a harvest of those who accept the truth and devote their lives to winning souls to Christ.
People Summoned to Seek
The summons reaches the wicked and the unrighteous, transgressors weakened by indulgence of base passion, backsliders, the unconverted, sin-sick souls entrapped by Satan, and all who have wandered, rebelled, and persisted in indifference and impenitence yet can still turn back. It bids them seek now while he may be found and call while he is near, forsaking sinful ways and thoughts and returning with heart and soul and mind and strength to receive mercy and abundant pardon. The promise belongs not only to those already perfect but to sinners who feel too sinful to claim it, for coming with contrition and with a broken and contrite spirit they will be accepted, have sins hidden and iniquities blotted out, and find happiness and healing. That pardoning mercy flows from thoughts and ways as high above human thoughts and ways as the heavens are above the earth, for he dwells with the humble and contrite to revive spirit and heart, in contrast to remaining under wrath while going stubbornly on in covetous iniquity. Refusing to turn puts the soul in peril while his Spirit draws, yet those who find him will praise his name and point other souls in misery and distress to accept and appropriate the same promises.
The same call presses upon members of the church, professed believers who claim his name and claim to believe his Word but have turned away, followed their own way, and stand disunited. It addresses the lukewarm Laodiceans, unrighteous religionists in whom true love for God and unselfish love for others has almost died, churches in every place needing to face their true condition and heed the Laodicean message, and those with names on the books yet unacquainted with the Spirit who must be converted in change of heart to a faith that elevates, ennobles, and sanctifies. Seeking means turning from faithlessness, complaining, faultfinding, murmuring, self-will, and refusal to unite with brethren who do not view matters just alike, to unfeigned gratitude for past mercies and for the light of his Word received into heart and mind, coming into line, filling the appointed place, and harmonizing with brethren. Coming in humility to receive wisdom so that he teaches his way, hungering and thirsting after God with strong faith and decided testimony, seekers obtain a deep experience that will stand the coming test, keep his commandments, are not left to be spoiled by the enemy, are fitted by the Holy Spirit to reflect light to souls in darkness, and are stirred mightily for the short work to be done upon the earth.
Ministers and lay members are summoned to seek God now while opportunity remains, because many walk in strange paths, turning from wicked ways and wrong thoughts and coming back to him for full mercy and pardon. Those entrusted with sacred work and sacred trusts, men in responsible positions, leaders and those serving in institutions, and conference presidents are urged to study and heed these chapters, receive reproof, consecrate themselves fully, put away pride, self-importance, harshness, hardness, indifference, and restrictive control that burdens fellow workers, look to him for power and wisdom to serve faithfully rather than relying on self, and carry out the neglected duty to warn others. Medical missionary workers, physicians, teachers, and workers and leaders in Battle Creek under oppression and injustice, in Sydney, in California and among those claiming the third angel's warning, in Washington, and among those opposing the work centering in Nashville and Graysville are included in the same urgent call without delay.
Every soul from children to the gray-headed is called to seek now while opportunity lasts, pressing on and through Christ getting rid of all sins, which opens heaven and opens the gates of the city of God so that the nations that have kept the truth are welcomed in to go out no more forever, free from all sins. The young in danger of drifting into indifference and pleasure are to be told what God has done through Christ for eternal life, taking hold of that work intelligently and crying aloud without holding back. It is high time to be deeply in earnest for one's own soul and for the souls of children, humbling the heart before God, bringing Christ into family life and the heart, having Christianity in the heart and in the home, educating children for a life devoted to God, giving them a godly pattern to copy instead of managing them as Eli managed his, and never giving over effort until transformed into a different person with steady anchorage and unwavering principle. Leading men especially must make thorough work of gaining this deeper experience and deeper conversion, letting his word work in them and giving service to the Redeemer, persisting until fitted to stand amid last-day perils, for without it there is an account to render and hindering causes will bring divisions, disappointment, and unfavorable representations.
Manner of True Seeking
True seeking begins with a changed attitude that no longer looks to worldly customs and standards or strives to please worldlings as the road to success, but trusts in God, looks to Jesus, builds on the solid rock which is Christ, denies self and takes up the cross to follow Him. It means humbling the self under the mighty hand of God as a little child, drawing near to God, confessing sins to Him and to one another, putting sin away, forsaking wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts, and returning to receive mercy and abundant pardon. No time is to be wasted in complaint over unsuccessful labor or desire for human praise, for God will not do for human beings what they can do for themselves, yet when the conditions are met He fulfills His word. Taking hold of His strength by living faith makes peace with God, brings surrender of heart, life and will, acceptance of grace and Christ's righteousness, and belief that Jesus forgives instead of trying to overcome and earn assurance by one's own efforts and goodness. Such seeking obeys conscience and truth, keeps the heart open to receive the grace of Christ, seeks His kingdom and righteousness with the whole heart sincerely and truthfully, and through faith which works by love and purifies the soul makes even physicians of souls as well as bodies, because His thoughts and ways are higher than human thoughts and ways as the heavens are higher than the earth and His spoken word waters and brings forth fruit like rain and snow giving seed and bread.
Seeking that finds is wholehearted, and those who seek with all the heart will find Him while He is near and may be found. It is earnest coming in humility to receive wisdom so the Lord teaches His way, satisfying hungering and thirsting after God with strong faith, decided testimony, and enlarged desires and readiness to receive blessing. This is no formal lifeless words but earnest labor that few understand, requiring the powers taxed to the utmost, supplications sent to heaven in earnest contrition of soul, prevailing earnest prayer, and with fasting the mind set to work on pure holy subjects and conversation, thoughts and deportment brought into harmony with the holy faith professed. The heart is kept open so the grace of Christ may enter, which is to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness in sincerity and truth. In this way church members obtain a deep experience that will stand the coming test, love God and keep His commandments so He will not leave them to be spoiled by the enemy, and are stirred mightily for the short work to be done upon the earth.
Such seeking leaves no room for pride, self-importance, self-exaltation, and harshness, but looks to God for the power and wisdom needed to serve faithfully rather than relying on self. It puts away the spirit of taking the place of teacher rather than learner, willingly receiving lessons of humility of mind, meekness and lowliness of heart, for without this humbling no one will see the kingdom of God nor come to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus nor be fitted to teach truth to others. It requires repentance and conversion from burdening fellow workers with restrictive control, turning to God while He may be found and is near. It turns from criticizing worshipers, picking flaws, accusing and faultfinding, and warring against brethren to earnest prayer and spiritual growth, giving strength to dispute every inch of ground against principalities, powers and spiritual wickedness, to fight the good fight of faith girt with truth, righteousness, salvation and the Spirit, and to be ready for the Master's approval as a good and faithful servant. Nor is there place in it for worldly policy, pleasure-seeking company, or divided living for both Christ and the devil, but only unfeigned gratitude for past mercies and the light of His Word received into heart and mind.
Seeking is active and thorough, turning strength to save souls and turning from faithlessness, complaining, faultfinding and murmuring. It uses the means entrusted in sacrificial service, working together with God so others can receive the truth, complying with His conditions by seeking righteousness and working for Him rather than remaining passive in church. It takes saving truth to friends and neighbors, giving to others what the Lord has given, using every voice, influence and ability to win souls with no one excused even if able to do only a little, and bringing Christ into family life in telling children what God has done through Christ so they can have eternal life. It forsakes one's own way, yields self-will, comes into line, fills the appointed place and harmonizes with brethren instead of standing disunited and refusing to unite with those who do not view matters just alike, counting the privilege of returning after going astray cause for gratitude. Those who so seek press on and through Christ get rid of all sins, persist until transformed, are fitted by the Holy Spirit to reflect light to souls in darkness and to work to the praise and glory of Christ, and thus heaven is opened and the gates of the city of God admit the nations that have kept the truth to go out no more forever, free from all sins.
Seeking is personal and direct between God and the individual soul, with each thirsty soul coming himself to the living waters to drink and drink again and be refreshed, for God alone is the fountain and wellspring of life. No one needs to wait for grace to come through any human preacher or lean on the broken reed of human influence and admiration, because a limitless source of power is opened before every soul and each person must find God for himself. Each one should make it first business to seek Him through the word of God and prayer, searching Scripture, learning what God says and obeying it, making peace with God rather than delaying. This means learning under Christ's discipline, taking His yoke and learning His meekness and humility, which brings rest to the soul and a firm hold on the eternal Rock. Only such determined personal effort and openness to the Holy Spirit gives a lasting testimony by which others are converted and He is made known.
Mercy Promised to Seekers
Earnest seekers will find him, for he is near and ready to be found, waiting to be gracious and pledged to show mercy and abundantly pardon all who turn from wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts and return to him. Calling upon him while he is near and may be found means abandoning sinful action and thinking and coming back, and his response is full cleansing and blotting out of sins beforehand to judgment.
His thoughts and ways are as high above human thoughts and ways as the heavens are above the earth. Unlike people who let go of offenders, he holds on, longsuffering and tender in pity, and he does not deal with people as they deal with one another. He dwells with the humble and contrite, and a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart he will not despise, while self-righteousness is as filthy rags and stubborn continuance in iniquity remains under wrath. His spoken word surely accomplishes its purpose like rain and snow that water the earth and make it fruitful, and entering this free invitation without money and without price to listen and eat what is good brings the soul to live in everlasting covenant and to go out with joy and peace when thorn and brier give way to fir and myrtle as an everlasting sign.
Finding him brings forgiveness with assurance of acceptance, happiness and healing, the hiding and blotting of iniquities, quickening from death in trespasses and sins and raising up in Christ by grace through faith, purity of heart to see God and endure his glory, joy and peace, spiritual life and power, rest to the soul, and a firm hold on the eternal Rock. Those who so turn from faithlessness, complaining, faultfinding and murmuring to gratitude for past mercies and the light of his Word receive mercy and abundant pardon and are fitted by the Holy Spirit to reflect light to souls in darkness. The wayward are received, pardoned and transformed when they come.
Trust that God will do exactly as he has said is the victory of faith. The promise to have mercy and abundantly pardon all who forsake wicked ways and return is broad and deep and full, leaving nothing more to ask, and by it God erects a standard against the enemy for the tempted soul when Satan says the sinner is hopeless and tries to steal away blessed assurances and take every glimmer of hope and ray of light. It calls for exercising faith, fighting the good fight of faith, wrestling with doubts and becoming acquainted with the promises, even by the sinner in unbelief who questions whether there is hope in his case. The human part must be met by forsaking sin, confessing sins to him and to one another, humility, surrender of self and continual reliance instead of trying to overcome and earn assurance by own efforts and goodness, while God fulfills his word and sends his word to accomplish its purpose and bring life and spiritual nourishment through gospel work and supporting labor.
The verse gives the terms of salvation and the education of most value, which is the highest knowledge a human being can possess, the knowledge of the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent, kept as the definite object before students for the mental, physical and moral improvement of the whole being. Those who come to be saved are healed and washed clean, shed upon by the light of his countenance, and made effective instruments to save others. Those who find him will praise and honor his name and point other souls in misery and distress to him so they also can accept and appropriate his promises, walking in Christ's light in the Spirit rather than in coldness and lukewarmness blinded by deception.
Warning and Final Application
The call to seek while finding is possible presses the necessity of arousing to give the last note of warning to save a perishing world. Leaders and those serving in institutions are to study and heed Isaiah 50-58 as reproof from the Lord, consecrate themselves fully, and carry out their neglected duty to warn others. That reproof falls especially on those in high positions carrying great responsibilities who have had great light, demanding thorough work instead of accepting only chosen words, heeding reproof, warning God's people to understand what is truth, stopping complaining and evil working, putting away the evil of works, and coming nigh in repentance and conversion because their ways are not accepted of God. Heeding brings the reformation that must go through the congregation of Israel, after which Isaiah 60-61 will be understood and Isaiah 62-65 will speak to the conviction and conversion of souls. The same urgency is an appeal for true conversion in which every person is to come to the Lord and every voice, influence, and ability is to be used to win souls, with no one excused even if able to do only a little, and with prayer for the Holy Spirit to expose the deceiver and free those held captive.
The closing scenes of earth's history have come, prophecy is fast fulfilling, and the hours of probation are fast passing with not a moment to lose. The unconcerned and indifferent are to repent, flee from the wrath to come, make immediate preparation for the soon return, and not sleep on guard. Ministers and lay members are to go forth into the ripening fields with earnest words of warning and the forgotten truths of the Bible, putting away selfishness so the Spirit may be poured out, and where the call is proclaimed workers will find a harvest of those who accept the truth and devote their lives to winning souls. Earnest seekers will find Him in humility to receive wisdom so He teaches His way, satisfying hungering and thirsting after God with strong faith and decided testimony. That is the way to obtain a deep experience that will stand the test before them, to love God and keep His commandments so He will not leave them to be spoiled by the enemy, and to be stirred mightily for the short work to be done upon the earth, bringing wonderful encouragement and uplifting.
The present is the time of grace and opportunity to make thorough work for eternity before the end of this earth's history, before death, and before the judgment when the dead are judged from the books according to their works. Seeking means letting the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and returning with confession and genuine repentance, cleansing from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and humbling the soul under the mighty hand without stopping short. Those who seek in this way will receive mercy and abundant pardon and will be made pure in heart so they can see God, endure His purity and glory, and enter the courts of bliss with the righteous on the right hand instead of being cut down in selfishness and sin with the wicked on the left. Every soul from children to the gray-headed is summoned, and telling children what has been done through Christ so they can have eternal life, taken hold of intelligently, leads to crying aloud without holding back and pressing on through Christ to get rid of all sins. Doing this opens heaven and opens the gates of the city of God and the earth made new, so the nations that have kept the truth are welcomed in, and once inside they go out no more forever, with freedom from all sins.
All ministers are to seek at once with urgent repentance and conversion, rebuking spiritual pride, confessing and making right wrongs done to others, forsaking wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts, and returning to receive mercy and abundant pardon with sins blotted out beforehand to judgment, in preparation to receive the Holy Spirit and to be fitted with the wedding garment for entrance into the kingdom, gained by faithful continuance in well-doing rather than irrelevant theories. The call is urgent because the day of judgment is approaching and people must prepare for it during God's day of preparation, with nothing allowed to distract from getting ready. Cold unbelief must not keep them from God, but His love should burn in their hearts. Christ made this appeal to the backsliding Jewish nation for three years, urging return with forsaking of wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts under promise of mercy and abundant pardon, but they refused their Messiah, and their rejection led to their ruin. Yet those who have rebelled can still turn back, as in Maine a few did and embraced the truth.
Seeking now means perfect faith and prevailing, earnest prayer that comes from real soul hunger, not formal lifeless words that receive no response. It means ceasing to accuse, confuse, censure, condemn, complain about and find fault with brethren, which greatly injures spiritual experience and weakens the forces and is inspired by Satan, and instead loving brethren, restoring them, and building up and advancing the work. It means acting now to take up untouched work in the Southern field and to lay plans to enlighten its neglected cities in that part of the vineyard, where tenderhearted people will respond to proper labor. Turning without delay means seeking wisdom from on high and taking a stand on the true foundation in order to receive pardon, being guarded on every point so as to stand in the great day of test and trial ahead. That guarding is needed because truth and falsehood are so closely mingled that deception is hard to see, and error blinds and blights discernment, but only truth will stand when the difference between the righteousness of the righteous and the wickedness of the wicked will be seen, so the warning is to be pressed especially on the unconcerned and indifferent, urging them to heed, confess and forsake sins.
The invitation is not only to come but to remain, for the Spirit moves people to come and Christ gives the rest and peace they need. Abiding means yielding life to His guidance and wanting to do His will in daily worries and treatment of others. Each person must find God for himself before making Him known to others, and determined personal effort and openness to the Holy Spirit with cooperation with God are necessary for a lasting testimony that converts others and produces lasting results.