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Part
2 TEACH
US TO PRAY
“And it came to pass, that, as He was praying in a certain place,
when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to
pray, as John also taught His disciples. And He said unto them, when ye
pray, say...”(Lk. 11:1).
This was not Jesus’ First lesson on prayer. He taught His
disciples their first lesson in prayer by His own practice of prayer. That
which first awakened their hearts and stirred within them the holy desire
to pray was not what He said about prayer, but what He did about it. The
setting of our text was late in His ministry. His prayer life throughout
the whole time of their walk with Him had so profoundly impressed them
that they sensed deeply that He knew prayer in a dimension they had not
touched, and as they had never witnessed prayer in the life of any man.
There was nothing formal, ordinary or “religious” in the prayer of
Jesus. To hear Jesus pray would carry one into the Holy of Holies. How the
disciples marveled and grew hungry-hearted as they heard Jesus pray! The
disciples were good men and well-versed in Jewish praying, yet when they
came into contact with the Son of God, instead of realizing they could
pray well, they came to the conclusion that they could not pray at all.
And when these disciples came to Him with this request, “Lord, teach us
to pray,” Jesus did not turn them away. He did not rebuke them. He
taught them to pray. And WE are taught the high art of sonship praying by
none less than the firstborn Son of God!
The disciples remembered that John the Baptist taught his disciples
to pray. Now, a new ministry and a further demonstration of the presence,
glory and purpose of God had been brought to them by Jesus. They sensed
something new, something more powerful and sublime in the prayer life of
the Son of God. A new day had dawned, the new order of the
We, like the disciples, have such a distorted conception of prayer.
We have said prayers, we have listened to prayers being offered in church,
we have cried out to God in pressing situations, we have even sought the
Lord Himself and a deeper walk in the Spirit, and have sometimes offered
thanksgiving to God. But when we live with Jesus we soon begin to realize
that we know very little about prayer and we join the disciples in
imploring, “Lord, teach us to pray!”
Occasionally I meet dear folk in this walk of sonship and the
Kingdom of God who profess that there is no longer any need to pray, they
have now attained to a higher realm of union with the Father where in Him
all things are theirs, and prayer is no longer necessary. The Lord Himself
is dwelling within them, they have found the God within, and they don’t
need to pray. In the minds of these, prayer is a left-over relic from a
by-gone age. It belongs to a lower plane of spiritual life than this high
realm of sonship or Godhood to which we have come. But I do not believe
it. I don’t know where they get this idea. It certainly isn’t
scriptural, nor do they get it from the example of the Lord Himself. No
man has been as close to God the Father as Jesus, and no one has yet in
this world been filled with the fullness of God as He was. The
Father was in Him in a measure far greater than any of us is consciously
aware of at this time. “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and
the Father in me?” “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father
in me.” “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but
the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works” (Jn.
The man from Galilee, the firstborn among many brethren, the
Pattern Son, the Captain of our salvation, the proto-type of what the
realm of sonship is all about, left us an example of the ways of God’s
Kingdom when His feet trod the pathways of earth. Not only did He dwell in
and manifest out of that high realm of the Kingdom - He brought the
Kingdom! He signed, sealed and delivered it with all authority. Not only
did He come and establish the Kingdom, He demonstrated it. He showed us
exactly how the Kingdom functions. And He prayed! HOW HE PRAYED! I doubt
if any man ever lived who spent as much time in prayer as Jesus did. Every
argument against sons praying breaks to pieces upon this rock - that
Jesus, the Firstborn Son, the Pattern Son was a man of prayer. He knew
more about God and more about life and reality than anyone else in
history, and He prayed. His example and His experience set aside every
objection, learned or ignorant, to the prayer life of the sons of God.
In Luke 3:21-22, we find the first occasion in the Gospels where
Jesus prayed. “Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass,
that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and
the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a
voice from heaven, which said. Thou art my beloved Son; in Thee I am well
pleased.” It was while Jesus prayed that heaven was opened and He was
anointed with the Holy Spirit. While He prayed, He was endued with all the
power needed to be transformed from being a small town carpenter into the
manifestation of sonship, proclaiming that the
The second time we see Jesus in prayer is in Luke 5:15-16. “But
so much the more went there a fame abroad of Him: and great multitudes
came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. And
He withdrew Himself into the wilderness, and prayed!” At this time, in
terms of Jesus’ ministry, things were going extremely well. His fame had
spread over the country. People were flocking to Him - the sick, the
oppressed, the hopeless, the sinners. They saw the power of God in Him. He
was the man of the hour. It was the hour of acclamation. He healed and
delivered them all. Then, at once, He withdrew into a desert place - to
pray!
The third recorded prayer of Jesus came during an hour of decision,
when He must select His closest disciples. These are the men into whose
hands He will place the destiny of the whole world. In that important and
momentous hour, Jesus went into a mountain in the evening to pray. The
hours passed by, and Finally the dawn arrived - Jesus had prayed all
night. Time and time again, the emphasis is upon the fact that Jesus
prayed alone, in the desert or on the mountain. At times He arose early in
the morning, before the awakening sun had kissed the clouds in the eastern
sky, and went apart to pray alone. He went often to the garden spots, to
the wilderness of
One Son has God had upon earth, who lived without sin - but God
never had a Son who lived without prayer. The only sinless and fully
manifested Son that ever graced the earth was its most prayerful life. Yea
and even now He ever liveth to make intercession for us! Yes, the risen,
ascended, glorified Jesus is now the great High Priest of the
Melkizedekian order, and there after the power of an endless life He
faithfully PRAYS FOR HIS BRETHREN! It makes me wonder why some have left
prayer. Could it be that they believe that they are greater than their
Master. Perhaps they are no longer Following the Master, who even now
prays in the highest heaven at the right hand of God! THE
I would speak to you now, in connection with prayer, of the
mysteries of the
In other words, that heaven that is so vast, so expansive, so
extensive, so all-inclusive that it embodies within itself all the other
heavens - even that heaven cannot contain our God! And yet I hear some say
that God is not omnipresent! God is the God, not of heaven, but of THE
HEAVENS. And in our journey into God we pass through all these heavens.
Jesus passed through all the heavens on His way into the glory of the
Father. “He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above
all heavens, that He might Fill all things” (Eph.
In the lower heavens you know God in a more elementary way. It is
wonderful to know God in His heavens. Each heaven bespeaks of a plane of
relationship with God by the Spirit. When the Lord unveils Himself to you
on a higher plane, in deeper measures, in richer and fuller dimensions of
His life, wisdom and glory, and you experience Him in it, you ascend in
Him to a higher heaven. In the lower heavens you see and touch and
experience God spiritually in limitation. As you pass through the heavens
you come to know God in greater and grander measures. You experience Him
in a deeper way. You come to know God more fully. In our progression
through the heavens we encounter the laws, or order, or ways of God in
each heaven. In the natural world there are laws - universal laws. One law
that we all are acquainted with is the law of gravity. A “law” is
something in nature that always, under the same circumstances, and with
the same conditions, happens the same way. If there is no deviation, no
exception to the occurrence or phenomenon -it is a law. When scientists
observe that under the same conditions something always happens the same
way, it is recognized as a law. The reason gravity is called the law of
gravity is because we know that if you throw a rock off a cliff it is
absolutely certain what will happen. There is no question about it. No one
reading these lines would be willing to bet that the rock will shoot up
into the atmosphere like a rocket!
In the natural realm man becomes familiar with its laws from
earliest childhood. He orders his waking and sleeping by the rising and
setting of the sun. He does not jump out of tall trees or off tall
buildings because the law of gravity dictates that bones will be broken.
Flesh will splatter, and serious injury or death will ensue. He doesn’t
put his hand on glowing metal because it will burn. He sees that two
objects cannot occupy the same space. He observes the movements of the
heavens and learns that the heavenly bodies travel in fixed and
predictable paths. He watches the soaring of the eagle high above the
earth and knows that he cannot fly like a bird. He learns that seed will
germinate in the earth and with proper care will grow and produce a
harvest. He learns that good food and exercise promote health, strength,
and well-being. Above all he quickly perceives that he must accommodate
his being to these laws if he is to survive on this planet and make his
living here enjoyable and profitable. He conforms to these laws; they do
not conform to him and he cannot break them with impunity or bend them to
his will; but if he will cooperate with the laws great good and blessing
can be his.
What is true in the physical realm is likewise true in the
spiritual realm. The world of the spirit is governed by spiritual laws
just as powerful and precise as the laws of the physical world. They
cannot be discovered by the natural mind, nor by man’s search or
investigation through natural or scientific channels. They can neither be
discerned or touched by the natural senses. They belong to the order of
divine revelation and are revealed to man only by the Word of God and the
Spirit of God. One cannot supplant these spiritual laws, nor nullify, nor
break them with impunity any more than with the natural laws. The
The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is the law of the
Kingdom - and it supersedes the law of sin and death. Many of us in our
spiritual walk have been trying to “die” in order to live. We’ve had
the idea that if we could overcome and conquer the death in us we would be
able to live the life of Christ. But that is a contradiction of the law of
life. You don’t die in order to live -you live in order to die. In fact,
if you don’t live before you die, you had better not die! If you don’t
have life before you die, there will be nothing left - not even a hope of
resurrection. Do you know why Jesus was willing to die? He was willing to
die because He could say, “No man taketh my life from me - I lay it
down; I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it up
again.” The one who lays down his life must have power to take it up
again. If you have not the power to lay your life down, and take it back
up, then may God help you not to die! You must live in order to die, so
that when you die you can still live. Christ’s life was secure in death
because He had life before He died, and by that life He arose. Someone
says, “But, I’m not going to die!” Well, do you know what the proof
of me having life would be? The proof would be for me to say, “Go ahead,
kill me...pull the trigger, man, because I have power to lay down my life,
and I have power to take it up again.” A lesser degree of life is
required to live and not die, than to die and still live, and bring
yourself back again. When I have a quality of life that IS, then I can lay
it down and take it up. So the law of the spirit of life makes me free
from the law of sin and death. It is Christ in me that enables Adam to be
brought to death, yet I live. I live and then die, and still I live. I’m
not going to conquer something so I can have the victory - I must get the
victory so I can conquer something. It is not victory that gives you
power, it is power that gives you victory. Get life, precious friend of
mine, and all the death in you will take care of itself. Increase in life
and you will increase in death. These are divine laws, the laws of the
God has dealt with me deeply over many years in the area of His
laws. We are not an accident going somewhere to happen. And we will not
just “saunter” into the THE FIRST HEAVEN - ASKING AND RECEIVING
There are divine laws in prayer. Imagine a man taking hold of a
shovel, who has never seen one before, and beginning to use it as best he
knows how, but upside down. After working awhile I can imagine hearing him
say, “It is hard work to use a shovel, and I cannot accomplish a great
deal with it either!” We would be most happy to be able to take the
shovel into our own hands and show him how to use it. After trying again
for a while, he will exclaim, “How easy it is to use a shovel, and how
much one can do with it!” All life and all of God’s creation are
governed by laws. Where these laws are understood and obeyed, everything
works well and is productive. The spiritual life, too, has its laws. If we
do not apply these laws, our spiritual lives will be burdensome and
fruitless. But if we can discover and follow the laws which govern our
development in the THREE LAW’S OF THE KINGDOM
When I speak of God’s laws I speak not of the law of Moses. I’m
not talking about any Old Testament law. And I’m not talking about
church laws, traditions, or regulations. I’m talking about Kingdom law -
the spiritual principles of the
Jesus says, “Ask, and it shall be given you: for every one that
asketh receiveth” - there’s the law! Not a promise - a law. How
awesome, expansive, and all-inclusive! How glorious, positive, and
absolute! EVERYONE THAT ASKETH, RECEIVETH. Someone has written: “Would
it surprise you to learn that one of the basic laws of economics is also a
basic law of prayer? It’s the law of need (which creates what economists
call ‘demand’) and supply. This law is operative in all business
transactions. When a person applies to the bank for a loan to buy a new
car, he is putting this law into operation. The buyer has a need; the bank
has the resources to meet that need. Such transactions require two
parties. Before a loan is contracted, there must be a borrower and a
lender; before a gift is possible, there must be a receiver and a giver;
before a legal will can exist, there must be an heir and a testator;
before an organ is transplanted, there must be a recipient and a donor.
Just as all these human transactions require a giver and a receiver, so
does prayer. It’s a sense of need that causes us to pray, but coupled
with it must be a recognition of the abundant resources of God that are
available to meet those needs.”
When we think of asking, we may recall some dramatic experience we
have had, similar to the experience of Captain Eddie Rickenbacher, who was
lost at sea with seven other men. In answer to their prayers for food, God
sent a sea gull who landed on the top of Rickenbacher’s head; in answer
to their requests for water, God sent rain. And after twenty-one days, God
answered their prayers for rescue. All the basic and most needful things
in life are given. They are not purchased or merited or earned or won or
discovered - they are given. It is failure to realize this great truth
that deprives many precious people of the blessings and benefits of the
There are two primary words in the Greek New Testament translated
ask. One is the word EPEROTAO, which means “to ask, to inquire, as
asking questions.” But the word used about prayer is AITEO, which means
“to ask, to crave, to desire, to call for,” always meaning asking for
something. I have just counted about thirty times that this word is used
about prayer in the New Testament. And it is properly translated
“ask.” We are invited to ask. Nay, we are even commanded to ask! What
condescension! We are to ask of whom? We are to ask of our Father who is
God and King and Lord of the universe. We are to ask of that One who is
the omnipotent Ruler, not only of the nations of this world, and the
planets of this system, but of all the starry heavens; that One who
controls the galaxies in their orbits and also the atoms in the tiniest
drop of water. We are to ask Him. Did you ever think about that? I might
invite you to ask the President of the
Said the robin to the sparrow, I should really like to know Why
these anxious human beings Rush about and worry so! Said the sparrow to
the robin, Friend, I think that it must be That they have no Heavenly
Father Such as cares for you and me!
Now listen. I want to share with you an elementary truth of supreme
significance. “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto
your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give
GOOD THINGS to them that ask Him” (Mat. 7:11). Good things! T-H-I-N-G-S!
Those who ask are given things. I draw your reverent attention to the two
significant words: ask and things. If you ask, what do you get? THINGS!
What kind of things? Good things! But they are, nonetheless, things. This
realm of asking for and receiving things is the First heaven. If you are
going to touch God, experience God, and know God in the realm of the
Spirit, the very first dimension in which you will come to know Him is in
the realm of “things”. This is the external realm. It is the realm
where we learn to know God as the great heavenly Santa Claus, as the great
Godfather, the Blesser and Benefactor of His children.
This truth cannot be made plainer than in the words of the Lord
Jesus wherein He says, “Therefore I say unto you, What things so ever ye
desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have
them” (Mk. 11:24). Is that a law? Absolutely! What do you get when you
pray? Things! I want you to get this. You ask and you receive things. You
pray and you get things. God says this is a divine law; it works and there
is no qualifying. Getting things is contingent only upon our asking. There
are no other conditions, no stipulations, no disclaimers, no hidden
clauses or fine print. He doesn’t say that if you last for ten days you
will receive things. He doesn’t say that if you never get angry, curse,
lust, or act like the devil. He will give you things. He doesn’t say if
you never fail or miss the mark you can get things. Nor does He say if you
pay tithes, attend Church, and read the Bible you will get things. There
are no other prerequisites. The law is the law of asking in faith - plus
nothing!
You will understand a great truth when you understand that a gift
is not given because of the goodness of the recipient, but because of the
goodness of the Giver. That’s why salvation is a gift. Salvation is the
gift of God to poor, undone, unworthy sinners. Faith, saving faith, is a
gift, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 3:8). The Holy Spirit is a
gift. Healing is a gift. Divine provision is a gift. The gift realm
involves areas where there is no qualifying. That is why we have seen men
with great sign-gift ministries, who could preach like Paul, prophesy
until the hair stood up on your neck, and perform mighty signs, wonders
and miracles, yet their lives were sadly lacking in character. The blind
would see, the deaf would hear, the lame walked, prophecy flowed like a
river, they could tell you your street address, your phone number, reveal
the secrets of your heart - and the next afternoon be caught at a motel in
bed with another man’s wife. Why is that? Because they are moving in a
gift realm. Gifts of the Spirit. And when God gives gifts He requires no
qualifying. No one in the New Testament had more gifts than the saints at
But it is a realm in which you can know God. In fact, I do not
doubt for one moment that the vast majority of those who read this message
first became acquainted with God in that realm - the realm of God’s
goodness, the realm of His loving kindness and tender mercies, the realm
of answers to prayer, blessings, miracles, and supernatural supply. It is
the spiritual world all the starry-eyed, effervescent Charismatics live
in! It is the realm of need consciousness, and our heavenly Father’s
faithfulness to provide. Multitudes of believers never follow on to know
God beyond that realm. They are heaven dwellers - the FIRST HEAVEN. It is
a great fact, if you could eliminate people’s prayers for “things”
and “needs” you would immediately reduce their prayer life by at least
90%. “Oh, God, do this. Oh, God, do that. Oh, God, help me here, bless
me there, give me a better job, increase my Finances, supply a new car,
heal my body, help my children, do something for Grandma...” Oh, how
“need” conscious are God’s children! Some years ago I was in a
meeting and a brother expressed the mentality of the vast majority of
Christians today. He asked the congregation, “How many have a need
tonight?” Every hand in the building shot up. The brother continued,
“If you don’t have a need, then you ought to!” How many of us have
our center in our “needs”? The truth is, if you removed the saints
“needs” from the average Church meeting or prayer group, they
wouldn’t know how to conduct the meeting! Most meetings are conducted
with a basic consciousness that we need God. Very few meetings are
conducted with the consciousness that WE ARE FILLED WITH GOD!
In the first heaven of spiritual experience we are conscious of
“needs” and the “things” that meet the need and we touch God on
that level. And God is faithful there! “When thou prayest, enter into
thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is
in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee
openly...for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye
ask Him” (Mat. 6:6-8). Here we have it again - things and asking. And
this is the heaven that the great majority of Christians have ascended to.
That is the realm in which they know and experience God. All the faith and
prosperity message today - two BMW’s in every garage, the best jobs, the
finest homes, the largest bank accounts, the most luxurious cars, the
finest clothes, and all the amenities of life - God wants to bless and
prosper you! God will make you successful and wealthy! And I’m not
opposed to that. I can surely use all He sends! But what I’m saying is
that this is the lowest heaven - the lowest spiritual level one can know
and experience God on. It is the knowledge of God on the external,
physical, material world of things. And this realm is real! It is one of
God’s heavens! Thank God for that realm!
I’ve known preachers that have never met God in the first heaven
reality. There were a couple of lady ministers that came to the Church
where I was minister in
The Lord quickened a scripture in my spirit: “Thy money perish
with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased
with money” (Acts
Oh, that God’s precious people would learn that this is just the
FIRST HEAVEN! We get so involved with, and centered in, our needs, until
we miss the fact that God has a need. Can we comprehend the idea that God
has a need? You see, the scripture reveals that God created all things
“for His pleasure” (Rev. 4:11). Sometimes we have sinned, we have
missed the mark, and come short of God’s glory and failed to bring
pleasure to the heart of God. God has a need for the fellowship of sons,
of like ones unto Himself. That was His plan, His purpose from the
beginning. “Let us make man in our image and after our likeness.”
God’s heart was the same as the hearts of parents today, to reproduce
Himself, to have a great family, to populate the universe with an Elohim
company, the extension and projection of Himself- gods in the likeness of
God. “The Jews answered Him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not;
but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, ye are gods?
If He called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture
cannot be broken; say ye of Him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent
into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of’
God?” (Jn. 10:33-36). Yes, God has a need - involvement with His sons in
His great creative purposes. In the path of sonship there comes a time
when our need becomes dwarfed in the higher light of God’s need, and we
discover that when our overwhelming objective becomes not to get, but to
live unto the Father, satisfy His heart and fulfill His purposes - then
our need IS MET THE SECOND HEAVEN - SEEKING AND FINDING
In this glorious transition from realm to realm we hear a voice
saying, “Come up hither,” and are translated from the first heaven to
the second. This brings us into relation to the second spiritual law, and
law number two is the reality of heaven number two. How well we know the
law of the First heaven: “Ask, and you get things.” That’s the BMW
realm! Now, let me present to you the law of the second heaven: “Seek,
and ye shall find” (Mat. 7:7). I would draw your attention to the
difference between receiving and finding. These two terms are not the same
at all. There is also a world of difference between asking and seeking.
These words are not synonyms, nor is seeking simply an intensification of
asking. These two principles do not work the same way. I could ask a
friend for $100.00 and he might give it to me. But that is not the same as
seeking it. Let us suppose I hear about a treasure hidden in the
The difference between asking and seeking, and between receiving
and finding, is that in the first heaven you ask for things and receive
things, but in the second heaven you seek for God and His Kingdom and you
find the Lord Himself. The line is drawn between these two realms in the
teaching of Jesus in Matthew 6:25-33. “Therefore I say unto you, Take no
thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet
for the body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and
the body than raiment? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek.
Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye need all these things. But seek ye
the
May the blessed spirit of Truth give understanding to all who read
these lines! The Gentiles seek. You mean they don’t ask? No, the
Gentiles don’t ask for things. The heathen don’t ask for things. The
unbeliever doesn’t ask for things. Why? Because it is in their nature to
seek things. “After all these things do the Gentiles seek.’’ Sons of
God, on the other hand, do not seek things. When they have need of things
they ask - and receive. God graciously and generously gives things in
response to asking. What divine simplicity! But the heathen do not know
this wonderful privilege of receiving simply by asking the heavenly Father
- so they seek, search, pursue, and actively strive to acquire
“things”. They devote themselves to it. They work at it. They expend
all their time and energies for the acquisition of things. How busy they
are! They burn the
Children of the heavenly Father, who know God in the First heaven,
learn to ask their Father and their Father delights to give them
everything. I don’t mean they don’t work - but they rest in their work
for they have found God as their source. But the unbeliever knows not the
heavenly Father. The man outside of God does not come boldly and
confidently to ask the Father for things, therefore he moves in another
principle and seek things. Any of you that are in the business world know
what I’m talking about. That’s what this whole “greed” economy is
all about. All the push and shove and dog-eat-dog mentality - I will
trample everybody in my path, I will use everyone I can, I will cheat,
lie, abuse, grasp and scratch to get to the top. The salesman who
convinces you that you need something you can’t afford and don’t even
want - do you know what principle he is working on? You’ve got a dollar
and he’s seeking it! The whole spirit of the economic system of the
world is based on the “greed factor,” and it’s the principle of seek
things at any cost. So Jesus says that the Gentiles seek things because
they never learned about asking. They have never been translated out of
the lowlands of the earthy into the first heaven of spiritual experience.
If you’re in business with God, you’ve got it made, my friend. You
don’t have to push, shove, sweat, misrepresent, lie, cheat, use
hard-sell tactics, take advantage and all the rest. But those outside this
Kingdom are busy burning the rubber on the road trying to make it by
seeking things. Hear now the word of the Lord! “Therefore take no
thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or,
Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the
Gentiles seek: For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all
these things. But seek ye first the
Let me tell you something about the word seek. In the Old Testament
Hebrew, where it appears most frequently, it is the word DARASH which is
derived From a root meaning “to tread, frequent, chase, pursue
relentlessly and unceasingly.” In the New Testament Greek, seek comes
from a word that means not simply to “desire” something, but to
“require” it. In other words, it indicates that you will not take
“No” For an answer. That is something more than asking! Asking means
requesting. Seeking is demanding. The Lord said, “Ask, and it shall be
given; seek (the Kingdom), and ye shall Find.” And it is a great fact
that in all the pages of the Bible God never instructed a Gentile, or an
unconverted man, to seek God. Did you know that? Every scripture within
the pages of God’s Book - and they are numerous - that says, “Seek ye
the Lord,” is addressed to the people of God.
“Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while
He is near...and our God...will abundantly pardon” (Isa. 55:6-7). We
used to preach that evangelisticly. We hung those poor sinners over the
Fires of hell until they could hear the flames crackling, they could feel
the heat blasts from the pit, they could hear the fiendish cackle of the
devil’s laugh - and we exhorted the sinner to seek the Lord while He may
be found, to call upon Him while it is still the day of salvation, because
life is uncertain, death is sure, and he might die before the sun rises
and go out into eternity to meet God. That makes good evangelistic
preaching - but it’s not scriptural. Furthermore, it’s a lie. God
never said to the sinner, “Seek the Lord.” I’ve got news for you -
there is no sinner that can seek the Lord!
I do not believe that the Bible anywhere teaches that man is a
“free moral agent” and can “choose” or “reject” the Lord of
his own volition. That teaching is a figment of the imagination of the
harlot church system. In fact, the Bible teaches the exact opposite. It
tells us, “It is NOT of him that WILLETH or of him that runneth but of
GOD that showeth mercy” (Rom.
It is a wicked and cruel lie to say that the unregenerated man is a
“free moral agent” and can voluntarily or by persuasion “seek the
Lord.” He is no such thing! He is a slave. “We know that the law is
spiritual; but I am a creature of the flesh (carnal), having been SOLD
INTO SLAVERY UN
The message is clear - we were not sinners by choice. We were
sinners by NATURE! We were born into this condition, simply because the
first man, Adam, put us all into slavery to sin. We had nothing to say
about it. We did not in any way will it, consent to it, or choose it, for
we were born into it. There is no fact more self-evident than the fact of
the total depravity of man, or his total inability to deliver himself from
bondage to sin, and this is rooted in the fact that he is spiritually dead
(unresponsive to the spirit) from birth. Total depravity means that man in
his natural state is incapable of doing anything or desiring anything
pleasing to God. Until our spirit is quickened by His Spirit we are slaves
of the flesh and the devil and are enemies to God. When man contends that
he is a free moral agent and can seek after or spurn the Lord out of his
own will, the Word of God contradicts him, declaring, “There is none
righteous, no not one! There is none that understandeth, there is N-O-N-E
THAT SEEKETH after God” (Rom.
Total depravity means that man, of his own free will, will never
make a decision for Christ. Our blessed Lord bluntly says, “Ye will not
come to me, that ye might have life” (Jn.
Natural men cannot comprehend even that they should come to the
Light. They are the unborn dead who know only darkness UNTIL GOD SEES FIT
TO GIVE THEM LIFE and understanding. Faith follows the giving of Life. The
giving of Life is by the will of God. Notice the order: “God, who is
rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us, even when we
were dead in sins, hath made us alive together with Christ (by grace are
ye saved)” (Eph. 2:4-5). Man is not saved by some mythical act of his
own free will. He is saved by grace, the divine enablement of God who
first gives him Life and then imparts faith into his heart as a free gift.
Paul continues, “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not
of yourselves; it is the Gift of God. It is not of works, lest any man
should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).
Wise men standing by the grave of Lazarus might pronounce it an
evidence of insanity when the Lord addressed a dead man with the words,
“Lazarus, Come forth.” Ah, but He who thus spake was and is Himself
the Resurrection, and the Life, and at HIS word even the dead live! Just
as Lazarus would never have heard the voice of Jesus, nor would he have
ever “come to Jesus,” without first being given Life by our Lord, so
all men “dead in trespasses and sins,” must first be given Life by God
before they can “come to Christ” or “seek the Lord.” Since dead
men cannot will to receive Life, but can be raised from the dead only by
the power of God, so the natural man cannot of His own volition will to
have Life and seek after the Lord. If Jesus had had no more than an
“invitation” for Lazarus to receive Life, He could have knocked at
that tombstone door for a long, long time. But Christ spoke the
Life-giving Word and that Word brought Lazarus to life and caused his
heart to begin to beat and his lungs to work, and Lazarus heard the voice
of his Master and received the faith to arise and walk out of the darkness
of that tomb of death. By J. Preston Eby.
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