HINDRANCES TO SEEKERS

Do you want to find Jesus? Do you want to know Him? Do you want Him to forgive your sins and save your soul? Then you must search for Him with all your heart. This is not just a casual interest. No, you must search for Him with all your heart. This must be a big deal for you. You must put in time and effort, and not let anything hold you back. This fits in with what I said two weeks ago about striving. Jesus said,

“Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24).

Casual seeking is not enough. Jesus said that you must strive and struggle.

But there are many things that will hinder you, hold you back, if you let them. Here are some of them.

I. First, there are people hindrances.

There are people who will try to hold you back. It may be friends, or people at school, or people at work. They may talk bad at you, or look funny at you, if you really want Jesus.

Do not let these people pull you back. Try to bring them in! Maybe some of them will. But many of them will move away from you. That’s the price you will have to pay.

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

But the biggest people hindrance is your family, and especially your parents. This is very important and very difficult for Chinese people, because you are trained to obey your parents and respect them. But Jesus said,

“He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37; p. 1010, look at it).

This is very, very hard for some of you. But Jesus gave this verse. He said it, not me. Yes, love your father and mother. But you must love Jesus more, or you will not be worthy of him. It is very hard and very painful, but you must stand with Jesus.

I’m thinking of one Chinese young man. He was about 25 years old. It was about six years ago, in the time of COVID. He liked the church. He seemed interested in finding Jesus. But then his parents said to him, “If you don’t stop going to that church, you will be cut off from the family.” That was too much for him. He quit the church. I texted him a few weeks ago, but he never answered.

I’m thinking of another young man. He was a UCLA student, 18 years old. He came to our church and he trusted Jesus. But then his parents threatened to cut him off. He refused to quit. So, his parents cut him off completely. They refused to support him financially. He had to get a job and took years and years to work his way through college and graduate school. But he remained a Christian. Now he is married with four children, and active in his church. This is far more important than whatever trouble he had to go through.

When I was in India on a mission trip I met a man. He was 70 years old. He had been a Christian for 40 years. When he first trusted Jesus, he was the only Christian in his town. Everyone cut him. His family cut him. But he remained faithful. Now his life is blessed, and soon he will go to Heaven.

In India, a Hindu trusted Jesus. He wrote this song, “I have decided to follow Jesus.” Part of the song says,

Though none go with me, still I will follow.

Though none go with me, still I will follow.

Though none go with me, still I will follow.

No turning back, no turning back.

II. And then, there are hindrances in the world.

The Bible says,

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (I John 2:15-16).

What is out there in the world? There is the lust of the flesh, physical and sexual pleasure. I’m sure most of you are not doing that, but if you are, stop it right away. The Bible says,

“Flee fornication. [Run away from it!] Every sin that a man doeth is without the body [outside the body]; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body” (I Corinthians 6:18).

There is the lust of the eyes. You look at something with your eyes, and you want it. You want it and you want it. It may be a house. It may be a nice car. It may be a high-class job or a high position.

It’s OK to have a car and a house and a college degree. I have those things. But when you look and you desire MORE and MORE and that is the main point and purpose of your life, that’s wrong. It’s called “coveting” or “covetousness.” But one of the Ten Commandments says, “Thou shalt not covet” (Exodus 20:17). Don’t covet something that someone else has.

Or maybe it’s old-fashioned MONEY that you want. I have met some of those people.
They weren’t happier than we are, probably less happy. I used to be one of them. I wanted to have a million dollars by the time I was thirty. I trusted Jesus and that didn’t happen, but I am far, far happier.

Jesus said,

“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).

Again, the Bible says,

“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (I Timothy 6:10).

I didn’t say everyone has to be poor. I didn’t say you can’t have money. But if you are constantly thinking, lusting, wanting, obsessed about having more and then more, you are wrong.

And then there is the pride of life. This means being proud of yourself, that you are higher than other people. You may be (or you want to be!) high in accomplishments, in money, in your standard of living, in prestige or status. I’ve seen people with fancy cars or jewelry or clothes, who pay extra for fancy labels so they can show off and look good.

I’ve seen people who do this through their children. They want to see their children go higher than anyone else, and they push their children hard. But it’s not so their children can do well – which would be OK. It’s so they can brag about it later. In the past women would say, “You know, my son, the doctor,” or “My son, the attorney,” or something like that.

It’s not wrong to push your children to get ahead in life. I told my children something like this, “I don’t want any bums in this family. I don’t want any bozos. You don’t have to do exactly what I did, but you have to do SOMETHING. You can’t be nobody nothing.” [If that is what you’re doing, get off your tail and get moving!] I was right to say that. Both of them have successful lives. But I didn’t do that for my own pride.

III. And there are hindrances in your own heart.

You can remain in the rebellion and selfishness of your own heart. Some of you do that.

You may refuse to believe the Gospel, the Bible and Christian truth. This is usually an excuse for you wanting to do something God doesn’t want you to do. But Jesus said,

“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17).

If you were willing to obey God, you’d have no trouble with the doctrine.

Or you may think you’re already a righteous and good person. But the Bible says,

“There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans 3:10-12).

Come down from your pride and admit you are a bad sinner yourself.

Or you may be trusting your own mind. But the Bible says,

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

Or maybe you’re trusting your own heart. In our society you constantly hear the message, “Follow your heart.” “Trust your feelings.” But that message is wrong. You cannot and you must not trust your heart. The Bible says,

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

And the Bible says,

“He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool” (Proverbs 28:26).

Do not trust your mind. Do not trust your feelings. And no, do not trust your heart. God says you’re a fool if you do.

And then, many people are just plain trusting themselves. I was like that. I came to see that Jesus was the Saviour and that He had to die for me. But I still wanted to be the captain of my ship. I wanted to do my own thinking. I still wanted to be me. I wanted self-independence.

Some of you are just like that. After all is said and done, you still want self-independence. But this will keep you from being saved.

You will rely on yourself, not Jesus. You will think of yourself in a good way, not as a terrible sinner who can’t do anything for himself and has to throw himself upon Jesus for mercy. You will be trusting yourself, not Christ. But yet, many of you here are just like that.

Our society praises personal independence. It tells you to follow your heart, to follow your own way. But that is wrong. Self-independence will keep you from Jesus.

Surrender your self-independence. Admit that you are a terrible, bad sinner – because you are. If there’s anything wrong in your life, throw it away. And throw yourself upon Jesus, only Jesus. He is everything. He is the only way to life (John 14:6). Seek Him with all your heart. Then trust Him. I pray you will do that. Amen.