25-0921a Transcript

Preacher: Mike Mathis

(1:32) Good morning to everyone, our visitors. (1:40) It befalls me to present the lesson to you this morning.

(1:45) And we have men that are in rotation to speak. (1:53) It is my turn to present the lesson to you. (1:58) Now, the lesson is from Bulletin Digest.

(2:05) It is called Finding Things. (2:09) Now, it’s really when you’re really seeking something that you’ll find it. (2:16) This particular lesson comes from the man that founded Bulletin Digest.

(2:25) He’s the one that takes care of sending these ideas out (2:33) to those that have accounts with Bulletin Digest. (2:42) He begins with the introduction to this lesson. (2:50) And he says, (2:52) Do you feel like you spend half your life looking for things? (2:59) According to Nielsen Media Research, (3:05) the average American spends 90 minutes a day (3:11) frantically looking for lost and misplaced items.

(3:19) So you are not alone. (3:22) This is the way it is around my house. (3:27) The most common phrase always begins, (3:31) Where is my…​ (3:33) And I know that personally, (3:36) especially it is pens that I have trouble keeping up with.

(3:45) I use the pen and I will place it somewhere. (3:54) The next time I want to use that pen, (3:59) that’s my question. (4:01) Where did I put that pen? (4:05) Now, he goes about his son when his son was younger (4:14) playing with the toys.

(4:18) He often misplaces from 2-inch tall transformer robot the leg to it. (4:32) And he says that his son is so bent on finding that leg. (4:41) And he said it seems like he is the one that is the designated finder of that robot leg.

(4:55) Because his son is adamant about finding that robot leg. (5:04) It’s important to him. (5:06) And I know that my late wife would frustrate me (5:18) because whenever we were out, (5:25) she would have the key for her unlock the door (5:31) and she would go in and she would drop her keys just anywhere.

(5:42) No matter where she would be, she would just put the keys down. (5:47) It could be on the couch, on the table. (5:53) And then the next time we were about to leave, (5:59) Where’s my keys? (6:02) I tried to tell her to have one spot (6:08) or to do one thing that she would remember that those keys were right there (6:18) instead of just misplacing them somewhere (6:22) and we’d have to be looking for them.

(6:26) But I will tell you about one thing. (6:29) She was talking to someone one day on the phone. (6:37) I don’t know whether it was her family or whether it was a friend, some acquaintance.

(6:49) But she got through with talking to them (6:54) doing something that was routine around the house. (7:04) Later, she wanted to make a call and use that particular handset, (7:10) which the phone we had would have two handsets. (7:18) But she wanted to find that particular handset.

(7:25) And she asked, what did I do with that handset? (7:30) I told her I didn’t know and she spent some time looking for it, (7:36) trying to determine where it was. (7:39) She used the other handset to try to locate it, but she couldn’t. (7:47) So that, she left off for a while looking for that phone.

(8:00) Later, she went into the kitchen and from the kitchen came the question, (8:10) guess where I put the phone? (8:15) I said, I don’t know, in the refrigerator. (8:24) So she was constantly misplacing things. (8:30) But it happens to us.

(8:34) We misplace things and we’re looking for them. (8:38) Through our scriptures, we find men and women seeking things that are important to them. (8:46) That’s what is the basic tenet of this lesson.

(8:53) We’re looking for something. (8:59) Jesus encourages us to seek the kingdom of heaven as a main priority. (9:07) Sometimes we don’t, or sometimes we think we don’t have time to do so.

(9:18) But in Matthew 6, Jesus is telling them not to worry about what they would have to eat, (9:35) what they would have to wear, and such things. (9:47) He’s just telling them that some spend their time wondering, (9:55) am I going to have enough? (9:58) Am I going to have enough to eat? (10:01) Am I going to have enough clothing to wear? (10:05) Am I going to have this and that? (10:10) He said, don’t worry about these things because God knows you have need of these things. (10:18) And he says, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, (10:26) and all these things shall be added to you.

(10:31) And I found that to be true. (10:35) Don’t worry about all these things. (10:41) And what a person searches for says a lot.

(10:52) There are some famous searches in the Bible, (10:56) and many of them gives us direct information about the importance a person places on the lost thing. (11:09) During several chapters of 1 Samuel, Saul, King Saul, is searching for David to kill him. (11:22) King Saul views David as an enemy.

(11:28) Saul is jealous of the fact that he wants his family to be the next in line after he is gone. (11:44) And he looks at David as being one that would take his place in the kingdom, (11:55) and he is jealous of that fact. (11:59) It shouldn’t be David.

(12:02) It should be Jonathan. (12:08) It should be his son Jonathan. (12:10) But Jonathan’s heart is woven into Jonathan.

(12:20) And that makes King Saul angry at Jonathan because he is very friendly with David. (12:36) In 1 Samuel 26-20, Saul is seeking David, and he is about to catch up with him. (12:51) David is on the mountainside opposite King Saul and his company.

(13:00) And David, with another companion, crawls up near where Saul is sleeping. (13:17) He has the opportunity to get rid of King Saul by slaying him. (13:24) But the only thing David does is he takes his spear and his water jug.

(13:33) And then he calls out to King Saul, and also the one that is supposed to be his protector. (13:46) And it shows to King Saul that he had opportunity, as well as motive, to kill King Saul. (13:59) But David didn’t do so.

(14:03) And then King Saul realizes that, (14:09) and this is the last time that King Saul goes out searching for David in order to kill him. (14:24) King Saul, on a couple of occasions, does not do what God commands him to do. (14:37) And then God tells Samuel, who is the prophet at that time, (14:49) He tells him that he has departed from King Saul because he regrets making him the king.

(15:07) Because King Saul does not do what he commands him. (15:16) And he said that he was going to seek a man after his own heart. (15:25) In Acts 13, 22, Paul is talking to people that he’s gone out on a mission from Antioch.

(15:41) And he is speaking to them. (15:44) And he says that God has removed King Saul from being king. (15:54) But King Saul rules until his death.

(16:03) In 1 Samuel 26, this is the final time that Saul searches for him. (16:15) For in the remaining chapters, King Saul is killed in battle. (16:26) But this is years later that King Saul dies after God removes him.

(16:38) And he says that he’s searching for a man after his own heart. (16:45) Paul says that when he, that is God, had removed him, that is King Saul, (16:55) he raised up David as king, to whom also he gave testimony and said, (17:04) I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all my will. (17:19) We found other examples such as the wise men who sought Jesus to worship him, (17:32) how they sought to kill him.

(17:38) This reveals a lot about their hearts. (17:42) John the baptizer and his disciples looked for the Messiah to come (17:49) and preached accordingly in Matthew 11, 3. (17:55) Jesus taught his disciples to seek first the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 6, 33. (18:08) But among his disciples was Judas Iscariot, of course, (18:14) who sought to betray Jesus, Mark 14, 10-11, revealing his true heart.

(18:29) Then the question is, asking self, for what do I search? (18:42) Since what we seek tells a lot about our hearts, (18:47) what we do is revealed by our searching. (19:01) Let me read that again. (19:05) Since what we seek tells a lot about our hearts, (19:11) what we do reveals by our searching.

(19:17) Examine and discuss the secret phrases in Romans 5-10. (19:27) Let’s look at Romans 5-10 just for a minute. (19:35) And we’re going to discuss about these.

(19:47) Actually, it’s Romans 2, verses 5-10. (19:57) He’s saying that according to your hardness and your intentions of heart, (20:07) you are treasuring up for yourselves wrath in the day of wrath (20:14) and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, (20:20) who will render to each one according to his deeds, (20:25) eternal life to those who by patient continuance, (20:31) enduring good, seek for glory, honor, and immortality. (20:41) If this is what we are seeking, then we will search for it.

(20:53) But to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, (21:00) but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, (21:06) tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, (21:12) of the Jew first and also of the Greek, (21:15) but glory, honor and peace to everyone who works what is good, (21:23) to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (21:28) So what we are seeking tells a lot about us. (21:38) Now let’s look at what God is searching.

(21:48) If the amount of effort spent searching for something (21:55) reveals how we feel about the object of our quest, (22:00) how does God feel about us? (22:07) Luke 19.10 said that Jesus came to seek and save the lost (22:19) because God sent him to do this (22:23) because God the Father is seeking to save us. (22:32) Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. (22:41) I’m going to turn to 1 Corinthians 16.

(22:53) I’m going to, I believe it is verse 22 that he wants to use. (23:08) He has verse 20. (23:10) But verse 22 said that if anyone does not love the Lord, Jesus Christ, (23:19) let him be accursed.

(23:22) O Lord, come. (23:27) Not loving the Lord after the Lord loves us (23:34) because he sacrificed his son and his son died to save us. (23:41) He gave up his life.

(23:45) He shed his blood that our sins be remitted. (23:51) And he used that blood to purchase this church according to Acts 20 and 28. (24:07) Does that not prove that God, how God feels about us, (24:15) that will cause him to seek our salvation, to seek to save us? (24:28) In conclusion of this particular part, (24:34) tonight I’m going to have part two of this lesson.

(24:40) But let’s look into our own heart and consider what you seek (24:49) and the amount of time you put into it. (24:57) Knowing how much you mean to God is the effort you put into seeking his will, (25:09) not your own. (25:20) The effort you put into seeking his will appropriate for the level of dedication (25:28) at which he has sought you and me.

(25:36) So what is it that we are really seeking? (25:43) What is really important to us? (25:49) Are we just searching for our own benefits? (25:57) Are we self-centered? (26:05) When we realize that God spent effort, of course the effort, (26:15) to save us, to bring redemption to us as we learned in our class this morning, (26:23) that he purposed this, redemption. (26:30) And he put forth the energy to make it so that Christ himself died on the cross, (26:43) shed his blood on the third day, (26:50) been buried in a rich man’s tomb, arose. (26:57) And he has now ascended into heaven, sitting on the right hand of God.

(27:08) He established his church, his kingdom. (27:15) This effort, this is not an accident. (27:23) The church is not an accident.

(27:25) Your redemption, our forgiveness is not an accident. (27:36) Now will we look for it? (27:40) Will we respond to it? (27:47) He laid down conditions that if we believe and are baptized, we shall be saved. (28:01) But he that believeth not shall be condemned.

(28:07) On the day of Pentecost, Peter told the people there (28:16) that they should repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the remission of sins, (28:28) and you shall receive the Holy Ghost. (28:34) So faith, repentance, and baptism, they are necessary for our salvation. (28:42) Not just one of them alone, but all of these.

(28:50) To bring us into salvation. (28:56) And once we are in salvation, we need to remain faithful unto death. (29:07) Are we seeking our soul’s salvation? (29:16) We can find it here in this book, the things that Jesus told us.

(29:22) Jesus is seeking us. (29:25) God the Father is seeking us. (29:29) We have this book to tell us.

(29:34) And won’t we seek the words in this book that tells us those things? (29:43) And if we do, we will certainly find our salvation, our redemption. (29:54) If you’re subject to the gospel invitation in any way, (29:59) that you need to come to Christ and be saved, (30:05) why not come now? (30:11) And if you have obeyed those commands, (30:18) and you’ve just been led astray, (30:22) why not come forward in repentance (30:25) and ask for the prayers of the church (30:28) to pray to God to restore you in His favor? (30:34) If you’re subject in any way to the gospel invitation, (30:39) why not come while we stand and while we sing?