Christian Living

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I've read somwhere from a great theologian that it can not be said of any man that he is truly seeking God if he be found in pursuit of any particular sin. He may be seeking the pleasure of this world and all its lusts and the attended pride thereof but the Father's love is not in him because he is not really seeking God.

A serious and pertinent question you may ask yourself today is are you really seeking God?

Hear the words of Holy Scripture, "Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statues." Psalm 119:155

Now if a man is not seeking God's statues then he is certainly not seeking God who is the author of those statues either. This should be pretty clear shouldn't it?

Furthermore, the Bible says this man is WICKED who SEEKS NOT GOD'S STATUES. Not only is this man wicked but SALVATION IS FAR FROM HIM. "Enough already", you say. "I'm okay with God. After all I do read my Bible...once in a while. I do fellowship with other believers....every now and then when I'm not working on Sundays. Okay, maybe I don't attend a Bible study during the week but then that's not required is it? I know I love this world perhaps a bit too much as evidenced by my love of Disneyland and other amusement parks. I know I watch too much TV and listen to worldly music and read romance novels and delve into the the occult by way of Harry Potter films and other such occult fantasy featuring witches and magic.
I do all these things but trust me I'm a Christian and love Jesus."

Do the things above sound descriptive of those seeking God or those who are seeking the things of this world?

Ask yourself.

"The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts." Psalm 10:4

Now comparing Scripture with Scripture we get a clear picture that the wicked are:

1. Proud
2. Do Not Seek God
3. Do Not Seek God's Statues
4. Salvation Is Far From Them

This should put terror in the hearts of many readers who do not delight in the law of God. This is the picture of a person who does not yet know the Lord in a way that would give credibility to his profession of faith. This person may have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ but they have little or no evidence for having been born again by the Holy Spirit. Such deception is common today as I speak with many about their soul's concern. I do fear the local churches are full of false converts. Many of these dear folks have never had the truth of God's law and the gospel communicated to their conscience.

The wicked do not seek God because they do not delight in God nor His law although they may profess to be in His favor.

Hear how the blessed or saved man is described in Psalm 1:1-2

He does NOT walk, stand or sit in the counsel of the ungodly but "HIS DELIGHT IS IN THE LAW OF THE LORD."

When a person spends his or her time milling around town with unrighteous people and taking advice from their foolish ideas and counsel what is one to think but that these individuals are not blessed and without a doubt they do not "delight in the law of the LORD."

Hear what the Psalmist says.

"Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors." Psalm 119:24

The apostle Paul could cheerfully say, "I delight myself in the law of God after the inward man." Romans 7:22

The inward man is the regenerated man, the immaterial part of man which has been washed and cleansed from all sin so that no sin can be imputed to him. As King David said "Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean: wash me and I shall be whiter than snow." Psalm 51:7

And we read in Psalm 32:2 "Blessed is the man to whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity."

Iniquity here means lawlessness or rebellion. To these individuals the Lord Jesus will say on Judgment Day "Depart from me ye workers of iniquity for I never knew you." Perhaps these are the most frightful words that will ever come across human ears. Oh that we may never hear such words spoken to us for it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.

I dare say Paul, before his conversion, had more righteousness than many professing Christians today. Phil 3:6 Touching the righeousness of the law Paul could say he was blameless. That is to say nobody could point to the letter of the law and say Paul broke this or that commandment. No, he was without fault. He was a Pharisee to be sure, and strict in his conduct and behavior. He did not turn the grace of God into lasciousness as many do today who claim to know God. Paul was no ordinary Pharisee but was a "Pharisee of the Pharisees." He learned the commandments under Gamaliel and so sought after the statues of God.

How is it that people have so deceived their own hearts with this idea that they are seeking God when they are really seeking self? Most people are self-seeking through and through.

A question I often ask people when I'm doing street evangelism is "Are you good enough to go to heaven when you die?" I get varied answers but so often I hear people say "Yes" with no compunction whatsoever.

One evening last year, while I was on Hollywood Boulevard speaking one on one to people and handing out gospel tracts, I asked a little old woman a similar question and this woman said she had never sinned in her entire life. I then asked her if she had stolen perhaps her friend's doll when she was a little girl. "No", she replied. Had she ever hated anyone or been unjustly angry with another? "Never" she said. After several no's I finally went to 1 John 1:10 and told her that if we say we have no sin we make Him (God) a liar and the truth is not in us. I waited for her response and looked into her eyes and added that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" and that "the wages of sin is death." (Romans 3:23; 6:23)

I could see a faint tear drop from her eye and knew the word of God was having an effect. I asked her what she was doing out in Hollywood so late at night. She said she was with her daughter.
I left her with a tract and encouraged her to read it and to think about what we spoke about.

Now it is evident that "Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?" Proverbs 20:6

It is by pride that a man thinks more highly of himself than he should and so by pride he is apt to proclaim his own goodness. He sees others worse than himself. If the proud man confesses himself a sinner yet he sees others to be worse sinners than himself. This is not a characteristic of a regenerate man.

Do you doubt this?

Consider the apostle Paul. He said he was the chief of sinners. Can you say that? Do you feel anything like that? I know Paul confessed to be being the chief of sinners first (and this wasn't a proud boast) but perhaps you should feel the weight of your sins more than you do, and if not, why not?

"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." 1 Timothy 1:15

Is it not true that "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9 Even in his own deceit the heart of man may think he is seeking God and doing the will of God only to discover his own heart is really at war with God, without the peace of God because the heart is wicked and desperately so. It is estranged from God in infancy said King David. "The wicked are estranged fom the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." Psalms 58:3

To truly seek the Lord one must put off all carnal distractions and every thing that would so easily beset us and weigh down the soul to this earthly plane of temporal existence. Consider that the soul being immaterial was made for better things than earthly pleasures. There are lawful enjoyments and we should be mindful of them but even here we must be modest and do all things in moderation but if we are weighed down by earthly pleasures then are we dead to the spiritual and weightier delights of true saints.

Paul said, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." Colossians 3:1-2

Too many Americans are guilty of a materialistic mindset. They covet things that they do not possess. Once they possess certain things they want more and so are seldom if ever content with what God has given them. Hear the words of the Lord, "And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." Luke 12:15

Covetousness come from the Greek word pleonexia and literally means "a desire to have more" (pleon, "more," echo, "to have"), always in a bad sense, is used in a general way in Mark 7:22 (plural, lit., "covetings," i.e., various ways in which "covetousness" shows itself); Romans 1:29; Ephesians 5:3; 1 Thessalonians 2:5. Elsewhere it is used, (a) of material possessions, Luke 12:15;

How bad is covetousness? It is so bad that it shuts all who are guilty of it out of God's Kingdom. It is a sin which is a transgressing or breaking of the first and tenth commandments.

***Covetousness Violates the First and Tenth Commandments***

Exodus 20:3 "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

Exodus 20:17 " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

In the New Testament we find further prohibitions against covertousness.

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and COVETOUSNESS, which IS IDOLATRY: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth."
Colossians 3:5-9

Now if you own a business it is easy to think much about increasing your profits through skillful marketing. You must decide at what point you are going too far and in violation of seeking riches instead of seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Matthew 6:33

It is quite natural for an ungodly or worldy person to seek more of the things of this world but it should never be so for a Christian or one who professes godliness especially when we know that "Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death." Proverbs 11:4

From these and many more verses we know the true gospel and truth and wisdom which flow from obedience to God is not the seeking of great things or wealth for these things do not help us when we come to die. Only the righteousness of God, i.e. the Lord Jesus Christ, can deliver us from death and so let us seek this great treasure above all else.

Now are you guilty of covetousness? Pray for repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus to cleanse your wicked heart of these
unlawful desires and do not flatter yourself that all is well with your soul. As long as you attend a church that teaches you that faith and happiness consist of having more of this world you are on the wrong path to destruction. Flee that assembly and truly seek the Lord and gospel truth.

When once a sinner becomes awakened to his lost condition and falls under the conviction of the Holy Spirit for a particular sin he often mistakes his experience for conversion but conviction is not conversion. Make no mistake about this. Converted persons must have experienced conviction for their many sins, yes, their darling Delilah but not all convicted persons are necessarily converted.

A converted person will turn from all their sins not just general but specific sins and be of a humble heart. Consider what a man is but so many bags of bones and muscle and sinew which moves under the power of pride and pride is a most hateful thing to God.

How many pastors or religious leaders will cry out against the sin of adultery or some other uncleaness but who will grab the viper of pride and hold it fast to their bosom. While the sin of adultery may have killed it's thousands the viper of pride has killed its millions. My friend either kill this viper of pride or it will kill you. Make no mistake here.

The pride of life takes many shapes and colors. For example the pride of possessions are like a high wave amidst the windy sea that lifts a boat straight up in the air loftily perched above the waters but soon that same wave of pride may bring that boat down below the waters sinking under it the weight of it's own destruction. Likewise you may be proud and lifted up like Pharoah of old or some other great one only to be made low and brought down beneath the waters of judgment drowning in your own Red Sea.

Beware of that wanton gesture or glance, those castigating words, those flashy clothes and low cut blouses designed to make a memorable impression, that flashy colored fast car, that eager ambition to get a job promotion. These may all be signs of pride that need to be mortified. Even a beggar may be proud that he or she is such a clever beggar. "Afterall, says he "Look how much I got myself this particular day for all my efforts. I've done better than my fellow beggars on the street." So pride reigns in the most unlikely places. It
is in the bosom of beggars as well as kings and political rulers
who spout off their campaign promises with proud looks and swelling words of self-aggrandizement. Sadly, the equally proud crowd loves it.

Take a walk down the corridors of Tinseltown and look closely at all the showbusiness and you will see pride at work in the lives of the superstars whether in acting, music, opera or dance. The many proud looks and fashion statements that are captured on national TV should make one shudder instead of jealous or envious. Such is the shame of showbusiness.
The many magazines at the newstands sell because of the many smiling faces of female pulcritude which seduce from the covers.
These celebrities and many like them do not seek God but their own pleasure, fame and fortune.

May we all consider what a great God has made us. It is He that hath made us and not we ourselves. What is man that you are mindful of him? Let the wicked forsake his way and begin to seek the Lord while He may be found knowing that God is able to abundantly pardon and bring us by His grace into His Kingdom.






Carlton Pruitt ministers the gospel to the Los Angeles area. Formerly a Hollywood actor (SAG member)and junk removal expert he now spends most of his time studying the scriptures, writing articles, hymns and poems and doing street preaching.

See his videos on http://www.youtube.com Type LAStreetPreacher in the search bar. CONTACT at Carlton2061@gmail.

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