“Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me” (Romans 10:20).
All of God’s prophecies are bold, but the Holy Spirit by Paul draws special attention to this one from Isaiah as a “very bold” prophecy. It is bold, is it not? How so? Because in His word, God commands sinners to seek Him and His promise is that all who seek Him will find Him. Yet it appears in this prophecy, that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah steps outside the laws of God’s physics! The command and promise is that if we seek Him, we will find Him. The boldness of this prophecy is therefore seen in this: Isaiah foresees a day when those who do not seek the LORD find Him! What?! What grace is this, O my soul?!
Does it surprise you because it is so amazing!? Why does it surprise us? Do seekers take God by surprise? Does God unexpectedly discover seekers by their coming to Him? Does He reward them for their efforts? Isn’t our seeking a God-given grace? Doesn't God surprise us by His grace?! Surely it must be so! Our seeking is the reward of Christ’s obedience, that He might bring God’s sons from afar. It is the work of God’s saving grace to cause us to seek Him (Psalm 22:26; Psalm 27:8; Psalm 110:3; Isaiah 26:12; Philippians 2:13; Ephesians 2:4-5; 10)!
But how do these who do not seek the LORD find Him? What is the means by which they find Him if they are not seeking? Do they accidentally stumble into a glory hole of divine blessing? Is it by the luck of the lottery? Oh no! God forbid! There is only one way that any who seek the LORD find Him. It is the way God ordained from the beginning! These who did not seek the LORD, found Him in the preaching of Christ and Him crucified! We seek for what we’ve lost. We lost access to God in the garden. We were prevented from re-entrance by the flaming sword in the hands of the appointed cherubim, guarding the way to the tree of life. Sin separates us from our God. It confuses and blinds us. We are lost. We grope as blind men, searching for the wall at noonday. We cannot find the way. Our seeking is pitiful. But! On hearing Christ, we hear that He is our access. He is the Way. He is the Truth. We hear that He is the Life. We hear that He has done all and is all. We hear that we are complete in Him. What are we in ourselves? Nothing but sin (Romans. 7:18)! But in our ignorance, we hear that He is our wisdom. In our unrighteousness, we learn that He is our righteousness. In our unfaithfulness, we learn that He is our sanctification. In our lawful imprisoned bondage to sin and the law, we learn that He is our redemption. And it is on hearing of Christ in the gospel of God's grace that we find Him.
God discloses Himself to us in the preaching of Christ. We were not seeking, but He found us. He says to us, “It is Christ that died!” “It is Christ that is risen again!” It is Christ who, having put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, is now seated on the right hand of God! God made Christ our Surety. He received from Him for us, and receives us as Him (Ephesians 4:32; Philemon 1:12,17). To hear the gospel is finding indeed! To hear that Christ has died and is risen again and reigns and intercedes for us before God, and that God has received from Him to our account, and now receives us as Him on His request, this is to find Him indeed! We see, we are persuaded, we embrace and we confess that Christ is our all (Hebrews 11:13)! This is faith. Faith is the finding grace. It sees, it receives, it lays hold, it enters, it raises holy joy in the heart with high praise to God for His mercy and grace in Christ. "They shall praise the LORD that seek him" (Psalm 22:26).
The prophecy is bold because God’s grace is bold. He saves sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). He justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5). He makes those His sons who in their minds and by wicked works were enemies (Colossians 1:21; Ephesians 1:5; 2:3-5). The promise is as bold as God’s grace. He is found of them that sought Him not!
Have you found this to be true in your own case? Did you not find in your experience that the Gospel came to you in power? You were ignorant of God’s electing grace, ignorant of Christ’s redeeming work, ignorant of free justification by His blood and righteousness. It was then, when you were ignorant, that He made Himself known to you in the preaching of the gospel! Can you seek for something when you don’t know what you’re looking for? God has to give us what we do not have, cannot know, and are unable to receive apart from sovereign, irresistible, life-giving grace. And when He gives, He gives by making Christ known. Then we find. Then we know. Then we see. We see that God has forgiven us for Christ’s sake (Ephesians 4:32). We see that Christ has received us to the glory of God (Romans 15:7). We find our righteousness in Him (1 Corinthians 1:30). We discover it was with everlasting love that He loved us (Jeremiah 31:3; Ephesians 1:4). We discover that His eternal love is why He drew us and that our seeking is His drawing. No, I was not seeking salvation by Christ alone! Yet He found me in the misery of my sin and blindness of my unbelief and gave me a look at Christ, and life by Him. And now, I live by the faith of the Son of God (Galatians 2:20). Believers never stop seeking, because this walk of faith is a repeating experience of need, searching, hearing and finding. "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek" (Psalm 27:8).
All of God’s prophecies are bold, but the Holy Spirit by Paul draws special attention to this one from Isaiah as a “very bold” prophecy. It is bold, is it not? How so? Because in His word, God commands sinners to seek Him and His promise is that all who seek Him will find Him. Yet it appears in this prophecy, that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah steps outside the laws of God’s physics! The command and promise is that if we seek Him, we will find Him. The boldness of this prophecy is therefore seen in this: Isaiah foresees a day when those who do not seek the LORD find Him! What?! What grace is this, O my soul?!
Does it surprise you because it is so amazing!? Why does it surprise us? Do seekers take God by surprise? Does God unexpectedly discover seekers by their coming to Him? Does He reward them for their efforts? Isn’t our seeking a God-given grace? Doesn't God surprise us by His grace?! Surely it must be so! Our seeking is the reward of Christ’s obedience, that He might bring God’s sons from afar. It is the work of God’s saving grace to cause us to seek Him (Psalm 22:26; Psalm 27:8; Psalm 110:3; Isaiah 26:12; Philippians 2:13; Ephesians 2:4-5; 10)!
But how do these who do not seek the LORD find Him? What is the means by which they find Him if they are not seeking? Do they accidentally stumble into a glory hole of divine blessing? Is it by the luck of the lottery? Oh no! God forbid! There is only one way that any who seek the LORD find Him. It is the way God ordained from the beginning! These who did not seek the LORD, found Him in the preaching of Christ and Him crucified! We seek for what we’ve lost. We lost access to God in the garden. We were prevented from re-entrance by the flaming sword in the hands of the appointed cherubim, guarding the way to the tree of life. Sin separates us from our God. It confuses and blinds us. We are lost. We grope as blind men, searching for the wall at noonday. We cannot find the way. Our seeking is pitiful. But! On hearing Christ, we hear that He is our access. He is the Way. He is the Truth. We hear that He is the Life. We hear that He has done all and is all. We hear that we are complete in Him. What are we in ourselves? Nothing but sin (Romans. 7:18)! But in our ignorance, we hear that He is our wisdom. In our unrighteousness, we learn that He is our righteousness. In our unfaithfulness, we learn that He is our sanctification. In our lawful imprisoned bondage to sin and the law, we learn that He is our redemption. And it is on hearing of Christ in the gospel of God's grace that we find Him.
God discloses Himself to us in the preaching of Christ. We were not seeking, but He found us. He says to us, “It is Christ that died!” “It is Christ that is risen again!” It is Christ who, having put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, is now seated on the right hand of God! God made Christ our Surety. He received from Him for us, and receives us as Him (Ephesians 4:32; Philemon 1:12,17). To hear the gospel is finding indeed! To hear that Christ has died and is risen again and reigns and intercedes for us before God, and that God has received from Him to our account, and now receives us as Him on His request, this is to find Him indeed! We see, we are persuaded, we embrace and we confess that Christ is our all (Hebrews 11:13)! This is faith. Faith is the finding grace. It sees, it receives, it lays hold, it enters, it raises holy joy in the heart with high praise to God for His mercy and grace in Christ. "They shall praise the LORD that seek him" (Psalm 22:26).
The prophecy is bold because God’s grace is bold. He saves sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). He justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5). He makes those His sons who in their minds and by wicked works were enemies (Colossians 1:21; Ephesians 1:5; 2:3-5). The promise is as bold as God’s grace. He is found of them that sought Him not!
Have you found this to be true in your own case? Did you not find in your experience that the Gospel came to you in power? You were ignorant of God’s electing grace, ignorant of Christ’s redeeming work, ignorant of free justification by His blood and righteousness. It was then, when you were ignorant, that He made Himself known to you in the preaching of the gospel! Can you seek for something when you don’t know what you’re looking for? God has to give us what we do not have, cannot know, and are unable to receive apart from sovereign, irresistible, life-giving grace. And when He gives, He gives by making Christ known. Then we find. Then we know. Then we see. We see that God has forgiven us for Christ’s sake (Ephesians 4:32). We see that Christ has received us to the glory of God (Romans 15:7). We find our righteousness in Him (1 Corinthians 1:30). We discover it was with everlasting love that He loved us (Jeremiah 31:3; Ephesians 1:4). We discover that His eternal love is why He drew us and that our seeking is His drawing. No, I was not seeking salvation by Christ alone! Yet He found me in the misery of my sin and blindness of my unbelief and gave me a look at Christ, and life by Him. And now, I live by the faith of the Son of God (Galatians 2:20). Believers never stop seeking, because this walk of faith is a repeating experience of need, searching, hearing and finding. "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek" (Psalm 27:8).
Rick Warta
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