FBC Marshallville
October 11, 2026 Clay Burdette
  • Near To The Heart Of God
  • Just A Closer Walk With Thee
  • Great Is Thy Faithfulness

  • Seek God's Face for the Nation's Sake!

    2 Chronicles 7:14
    This nation has seen calamity and my people who are called by my name need to heed God’s word
    We’ve said this many times.
    I believe our nation is worse than it ever has been.
    Perhaps that is so.
    But why is our nation so offensive to us?
    Why are we tolerating such loathsome behavior?
    It is not comfortable standing up for what is right.
    It cost us and those around us.
    If just one of us sought to correct a wrong in this neighborhood we would all be assessed as to our part in it.
    That is not comfortable but God has not called us to be comfortable.
    Our nation needs God’s forgiveness and healing.
    Today, we are looking at what My People who are called by My name are to do when calamity strikes.
    Just 2 weeks ago we were reminded to humble ourselves with Jesus as our example
    Last week we were called to pray.
    We used Jesus’ model prayer as an example of how to pray.
    Lift high the name of the Lord
    Beg for the will of God to be done here on earth as it is in heaven.
    Ask for God’s provision such as our daily bread
    Forgive as we have been forgiven
    Trust God for deliverance from temptation and evil.
    2 Chronicles 7:14 NASB 95
    14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
    Pray

    Seek is a verb

    Definition
    to search for (someone or something) : to try to find (someone or something)
    to ask for (help, advice, etc.)
    to try to get or achieve (something)
    God’s call to “seek [his] face.”
    That is, to seek his forgiveness and favor.
    In 2 Chron 7:3 , the people of Israel were so overcome by f God’s presence that they fell on their faces in worship.
    2 Chronicles 7:3 NASB 95
    3 All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the Lord upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the Lord, saying, “Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
    So, seeking God’s face means much more than saying “thank you for this food” or reciting “now I lay me down to sleep.”
    Prayer that moves God comes from a recognition that sin turns his face away from us and turns us away from him.
    It approaches God on his terms.
    Prayer is not a process of negotiation.
    It requires seeking and accepting God’s terms of reconciliation.
    The good news is that God invites us to seek his face.
    He is open to us.
    The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (C. Dedicating the Temple (5:2–7:22))
    A hindrance to seeking God’s face is our propensity for anxiety...

    Anxiety has become a massive issue

    in our nation and church
    Jesus Himself teaches us how to deal with anxiety.
    Matthew 6:25 NASB 95
    25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
    Here Jesus lays out the focus of our anxiety.
    We are often focused on ...
    Life in general
    Eating, drinking, my body
    What to wear?
    Jesus says, “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”
    Focus on God, Seek God’s Face
    Jesus begins to change our focus by looking to nature as proof for trusting in God
    vv. 26-27 The birds of the air
    Matthew 6:26–27 NASB 95
    26 Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
    God cares about everyone of the birds.
    Birds do not sow nor reap and certainly do not store away in barns.
    Yet our heavenly Father feeds them.
    If we are worth far more than a bird we can trust God to feed us.
    What does Jesus say about clothing?
    Vv.28-30 Clothing
    Matthew 6:28–30 NASB 95
    28 And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
    There is no reason to concern ourselves with clothing
    Jesus proves that with the flowers of the field
    They are more beautiful than Solomon in all his glory.
    Grass is here today and gone tomorrow.
    God knows what we need and we can trust Him to provide for our needs..
    Jesus tells us to not worry about the things of this world
    Matthew 6:31 NASB 95
    31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’
    Because these are the things the heathen concern themselves with.
    Matthew 6:32 NASB 95
    32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
    Here is how not to worry
    Matthew 6:33 NASB 95
    33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
    Satan wants us to miss this fact.
    He demands that we worry about all this extraneous stuff.
    Stuff that doesn’t matter in eternity.
    Stuff that distracts us from what is really important.
    God told Solomon in the OT, when My people who are called by My name, humble themselves and pray and seek my face...
    Here in the NT Jesus says seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.
    How do we do that?
    We humble ourselves
    That means we recognize we cannot do life on our own.
    We need help, God’s help.
    Then we pray
    Not my will be done but Your will be done.
    Then we submit to the will of God regardless of how it looks.
    We simply do it.
    Then with every fiber of our being we look for Jesus and the HS to guide our words, our thoughts our actions to center them on God’s kingdom.
    When things go badly we trust God to clean them up.
    Whatever happens we trust God to cause it to work together for good because we love God and are called according to His purpose.
    God’s people must seek the face of God

    What does it mean to "seek My face?"

    2 Chronicles 15:2 NASB 95
    2 and he [Azariah, the prophet] went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
    Azariah, the prophet tells King Asa and all Judah and Benjamin;
    The Lord is with you when you are with Him.
    Being with God, takes time to empty yourself before God.
    Glorifying His name.
    Humble yourself before our holy God.
    Azariah says, if you seek Him, He will let you find Him.
    God does not hide from us if we seek Him.
    But It will always cost us to seek God.
    Look at...
    Jeremiah 29:13 NASB 95
    13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
    That means we have abandoned all else.
    We no longer concern ourselves with my own way.
    We have sold out, totally dependent on God to provide success
    Seeking God is pouring ourselves upon the altar of sacrifice.
    Seeking God is trusting God in all things
    Ezra 8:21-23
    Ezra 8:21–23 NASB 95
    21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. 22 For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who forsake Him.” 23 So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He listened to our entreaty.
    Ezra had a dilemma
    The king had given him permission to go back to the land of Israel taking a remnant with him.
    He knew the way back to Israel was fraught with danger and peril.
    And he had told the King in v.22 "The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who forsake Him."
    If he asked for protection from the King what would that say about his belief in God's power?
    But if he didn't have protection how would he get all these people, especially the young ones, to Israel?
    The answer v.23 "So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He listened to our entreaty."
    So often we seek man rather than God.
    Man says don't help the beggar, he may use the money to get drunk.
    Man says protect yourself, let the helpless help themselves.
    Man's ways are only a portion of the picture.
    "Vista Vision" p. 209 Barnhouse, 1967 Revell.
    Suppose you could see on a screen a mother and father slapping, shaking, even beating a child.
    You say, "How cruel!"
    But when you go to wide angel you see that the temperature is freezing and the entire family is walking in snow.
    The parents are simply trying to keep the child awake and alive.
    Doesn't the whole picture change our opinion of the parents?
    God has the whole picture.
    Man has only a small view.
    Seek God’s face.

    How then can we "seek My face”

    2 Chronicles 31:21 NASB 95
    21 Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in law and in commandment, seeking his God, he did with all his heart and prospered.
    There is a way to ensure that you prosper in what you do: serve the Lord with all your heart!
    Hezekiah, king of Judah, lived in a dangerous and tumultuous time.
    He faced powerful enemies.
    Idolatry was the popular religion of the day.
    His parents had rejected God and encouraged people to worship other gods (2 Chron. 28).
    Hezekiah had the opportunity to reject God as well, yet he chose to serve God with all of his heart.
    He did everything in his power to promote worship of the true God.
    He diligently followed God's commandments.
    As a result of Hezekiah's determination to serve God, God blessed him.
    Hezekiah thrived in an unsettled time because he resolved to follow God despite popular opinion.
    God will honor the heart that commits to follow Him (2 Chron. 26:5).
    "Work Calories" p. 29 Barnhouse, Revell 1967
    Most of us will agree that a person must eat in order to live.
    Did you know that it takes 3 slices of bread per miner for each ton of coal to be mined. According to a study done by 2 German physiologist in WWII Ruhr coal mines.
    They found that if additional work were stimulated through bonuses or incentives but no additional food-The work calories came from the "very substance of the body."
    This was proven by a subsequent weight loss.
    Also in peacetime another study revealed that without sufficient work calories job performance suffered.
    Now what does that have to do with us and the study of God's word?
    The word of God is food for the Christian.
    God Himself is food for the Christian
    A minimum intake is required for daily sustenance.
    If God has special work for us it will require special nourishment from the word through the HS.
    How many of you are studying the word in order to seek God?
    To seek God we must pour over his word allowing him to speak to us.

    Conclusion

    2 Chronicles 7:14 NASB 95
    14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
    Humble themselves, pray, seek God’s face.
    In reality, all God wants is for us to realize we need Him.
    For that hunger to be so bad that we spend every waking hour looking for Him.
    For some of us this stuff is too scary.
    We are unwilling to give up enough control to allow God to use us.
    But God requires that his people who are called by his name humble, pray and seek his face.
    God will not hear, forgive and heal until he has our attention.
    Will you give it today?
    For some that means allowing him to take total control.
    For others it means remembering the past commitment you have made.
    For all of us seeking God requires our undivided attention.
    Please give it for the sake of this nation.

    456 Precious Lord, Take my Hand

    Chorus Precious Lord take my hand lead me on let me stand I am tired I am weak I am worn Through the storm
    through the night Lead me on to the light Take my hand precious Lord lead me home
    Verse 1 When my way grows drear precious Lord linger near When my life is almost gone Hear my cry hear my call
    Hold my hand lest I fall Take my hand precious Lord lead me home

      • 2 Chronicles 7:14NASB95PARA

      • 2 Chronicles 7:3NASB95PARA

      • Matthew 6:25NASB95PARA

      • Matthew 6:26–27NASB95PARA

      • Matthew 6:28–30NASB95PARA

      • Matthew 6:31NASB95PARA

      • Matthew 6:32NASB95PARA

      • Matthew 6:33NASB95PARA

      • 2 Chronicles 15:2NASB95PARA

      • Jeremiah 29:13NASB95PARA

      • Ezra 8:21–23NASB95PARA

      • 2 Chronicles 31:21NASB95PARA

      • 2 Chronicles 7:14NASB95PARA

  • Precious Lord Take My Hand
  • Praise God From Whom All Blessing Flow
FBC Marshallville
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http://www.fbcmarshallvillega.org
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