The shepherd seeks the lost sheep "until he finds it." And it is only the lost sheep that lies in the pathway of the seeking shepherd. If I take the place of a lost sinner, and nothing else, it is not so much my part to seek. Christ as His to seek me. This is grace. He seeks until He finds; He does not stop in His search until He and we meet. Alas, our part is only straying.
The holy, just and good law of God came demanding from man love to God, and proved that what God justly demands from man He has not got, and cannot get; so that, without exception, it may be said of all men who ought to have sought after God, “There is none that seeketh after God.” Rom. 3:1111There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. (Romans 3:11).
Grace comes in now, and says, I will seek you, and I will seek until I find. Thank God! It is He who breaks in upon us, and not we upon Him. We would willingly remain among those who forget God. Our wills are free only to wander, and get further from Him. In fact, the first thing God does in breaking in upon our enmity is to make us "willing.”
Our part is to take the place of a sinner, and nothing else. Most people believe they are sinners, but comparatively few believe that they are sinners and nothing else but sinners. As truly as He has shown us that we are lost, and nothing but lost, so surely can we claim that seeking Shepherd, for He seeks until He finds.
Nothing stops Him in His search;—not all the hatred of man nor devils;—not all the malice and spite and envy of the chief priests;—not all the murmurings of the Pharisees and scribes;—not all the waywardness of the wandering sheep;—not the indifference and degradation of those for whom He is searching. He will have His joy, that joy that rejoices not until He finds.
But there is another "until" in Luke 17:2727They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. (Luke 17:27). “They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.”
“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.”
That little word "until" tells out the sad story of what man is. Men will please themselves, let God's claims or God's grace be what they may. And thus they go on “until"!
But every history has its until. The course of the vilest infidel is brought to a close by an until. The world's race to destruction will be consummated in that until. Vain are the thoughts of those who think of the gradual conversion of the world. They go on as Jesus said they would: careless, and wholly engrossed with their own affairs, until the Lord comes.
Jesus will remain away until this time of mingled salvation and destruction: salvation to all who were sought out and found by Him; destruction to all who rejected Him, it being one of God's impossibilities to renew such to repentance. Solemn words! May we take heed while it is yet the day of His grace.
He came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Thus called and thus saved, we can patiently await His coming. We rest on the precious promises of His Word, while even some who profess His name are leaning to their own understanding.
A godless, reckless world is rushing blindly, madly on to destruction until (and what an until it will be!) until He comes in righteousness, to make this earth His footstool. Then He shall gird His sword on His thigh, to slay, and not to heal; and, in the midst of their calamity and dreadful fear, His word is: "I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh.” Prov. 1:2626I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; (Proverbs 1:26).