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I have the privilege of introducing our guest speaker today. Dr. David Hartman is joining us

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from the university just up the road here at Southern. He is a professor of applied theology,

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and I had the privilege of taking two classes from him. One required, he's the only one who

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teaches that one, and the other one I chose to take it from him, amongst other options.

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It was a joy having him as my professor. I learned a great deal from him, from his experience

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in ministry. You can read, there's an insert in the bulletin that gives a little bit of a bio

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about it, so I'm not going to cover that. I wanted to share a little bit about my thoughts of him.

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I first met David Hartman. You were working, it was in the ministerial department in Kentucky,

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Tennessee. So he was in the ministerial department in the Kentucky, Tennessee conference while I

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still lived at Lexington, so I got to meet him there and observe how he went through a pastor

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hiring and leaving. So we kind of knew each other, and I thought I recognized his name when I saw him

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join the professor roster at Southern. Then of course when I saw him and we introduced ourselves

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to each other again, that was of course confirmed. So now it is a joy to have him not only as a former

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professor, but now as a colleague and a friend in ministry. I am glad that he accepted the invitation

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to be here, and what impresses me the most about him is he loves Jesus and he wants everybody else

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to love Jesus. That became very apparent in my conversations with him and the classes that I took

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in his approaches to it. When you are a student, you appreciate the professors that yes, they want

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you to do the work, but they also care very much that you know the Jesus whom the work is about.

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And that was the impression that I got with him is that he cared more that the students knew Jesus

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than that they just had hard work and long papers, etc., etc. So it was a double blessing.

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It is my privilege to introduce him. He is going to have our message this morning. You will be

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blessed. And then again this afternoon at 1.30, he is going to share from his experience in ministry

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on practical ways of witnessing. Can I have a word of prayer for you?

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Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for how you have been a part of Dr. Hartman's life and ministry,

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how you have led him and how he has answered that call to follow after you. So now Lord, I pray that

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you would use him as your mouthpiece. Speak through him so that we might be blessed with your words.

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Bless him with the presence of your Holy Spirit. Fill him with your love this morning. We pray in

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your name. Amen. Thank you. It is a real privilege to be here. And I'm glad that my wife Judy is with

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me as well. She is my better half, always has been my better half. Judy, would you just stand up and

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say hi? All right. We have two children. We have a 35 and a 33 year old. And we have just had our

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fourth grandson born into our family last night two weeks ago. So we are blessed with four grand

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boys. I could have my own Pathfinder club. And we'll get out and do some of that camping,

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backpacking that Pastor Aaron talked about. It feels good to be in a church pulpit. I'm used to

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standing up in front of a class of 30 to 60 students. And God has called me to that. This is the

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fifth year that I've been at Southern. Prior to that, I was a pastor for 24 years. And then I was

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ministerial director of Kentucky Tennessee Conference and evangelism coordinator for nine years.

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And got to travel to all of the churches in our conference. We had 110 churches and companies

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in the Kentucky Tennessee Conference. So I got to preach in every one of those churches. Through the

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nine years I was there and it just feels like I'm back on the sawdust trail again doing that,

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being with you. You have a beautiful sanctuary. I'm Facebook friends with Pastor Aaron and I've

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noticed the pictures. Now I can come and feel it and experience it. God bless you for stepping out

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in faith and taking on a project like this. This is absolutely awesome. Aaron, I can't believe it's

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been two years since you graduated. And Heather, I think you graduated about a year later. So both

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of you are out in the workforce now. Three lovely boys. We're just so happy for you all.

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Before we open God's word, let's pray one more time. Lord, please speak through me.

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Please share the burden that you have on your heart. Send your spirit to inspire us in Jesus name.

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Amen. When I was young, I dreamed of finding buried treasure.

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During my elementary years, I was down on the Emerald Coast of Florida, Pensacola, Florida,

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just about 15 miles from where I lived with the long thin barrier island called Santa Rosa Island.

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And I would claw in the sand dunes. I had read books by Robert Louis Stevenson, you know,

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Treasure Island and other books like that. And I just knew that I was going to strike a year

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that I was going to strike a treasure chest and bring up that gold bullion. And I was going to be

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a rich young man. Never found that treasure. Treasure has driven men for centuries to go on

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great search of it. People like Hernan Cortez, Hernando de Soto, Francisco Coronado, all

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traversed the New World in search of gold. Coronado actually tripped over the great,

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the Grand Canyon in his search for gold. More recently, Mel Fisher. He was looking for the

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Spanish Galilean, a sunken vessel, the Atoka for 18 years. Every morning he would wake up, he and

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his man and he would say, this is the morning boys, we're going to find her today. 18 years of

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searching and finally they found the Atoka. He was willing to sink several million dollars into that

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exploration search project because he knew that that which he was searching for was worth far more

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than a few million. And we have been down in the Key West and seen the museum there. We have seen

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the gold bricks that came up from the Atoka. But this morning I want to talk about searching for a

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different kind of treasure. Although we would like to strike gold, wouldn't we? A different kind of

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treasure. Let's take our Bibles and look at Matthew chapter 13. This has already been read as our

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scripture reading, but we are going to park right here as well as look at several other passages

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to take a look at this pearl of great price and what is its application for our life

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today. Matthew chapter 13, let's read verses 45 and 46. Matthew 13, 45 and 46. By the way,

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this chapter 13 is a treasure chest. There are more parables of Jesus found in Matthew 13 than

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any other place in the Bible. Seven rich parables and this is right in the heart of that treasure

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chest of parables. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a what? A merchant seeking beautiful what?

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Pearls who when he had found one pearl of what kind of price? Great price or value. Went and sold

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how much? All that he had and bought it. That word there, that one pearl of great value is a compound

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is a compound word in the original language is polytumos. Polytumos. Poly means many, great,

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much and tume means value, worth. It's the same word found in John chapter 12 verse 3 when it

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talks about Mary buying that spikenard ointment, perfume and anointing Christ's feet before he was

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crucified. She spent her life savings on that perfume. It was of great value and great worth.

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Same word used. You know it's interesting before cultured pearls, you know they introduced little

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grit into the pearl oyster now and pearls are you know dime a dozen so to speak. But back in the day,

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back in Bible times, divers would have to plunge as deep as a hundred feet and feel around on the

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murky bottom. They didn't have scuba tanks back then. They had to hold their breath a hundred feet

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down. Can you imagine groping on the bottom of the ocean finding three or four pearl oysters,

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stuffing it in a little sack and back up to the surface. It took roughly ten thousand pearl

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oysters before they found one gem quality pearl. Can you imagine the repeating that process?

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Imagine the risk. That little guy with the dorsal fin, I wouldn't want to mess with that shark,

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or barracudas, or decompression sickness, or drowning. All of these things they risked so that

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they could find that pearl. In fact, pearls were so rare that they were the most valuable commodity

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in the ancient world. More valuable than gold, silver, or even diamonds. Pearl of great price.

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This pearl was so valuable, what was the merchant person willing to give to secure it? Verse 46,

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he sold all that he had and bought it. Can you in your mind's eye see Mr. Merchantman

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searching the world over for this pearl of great price? I can just imagine in my creative mind's

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eye he goes to Istanbul and he's at a fashionable bazaar and he sees all these tables laden with

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fine silks and emeralds and sapphires and rubies and so forth and there he sees it on this table

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the most beautiful pearl he's ever laid his eyes on. Perfect symmetry. I mean without defect.

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Perfect luster. And he says to the grizzled seller, how much? You know they had a bartering

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system back there. So this Mr. Merchantman began to take rubies, sapphires, emerald, diamonds out

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of his pockets. He clunks it on the tabletop. Not enough sir. So Mr. Merchantman goes

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and empties out his bank account, cashes out his Roth IRA, sells his sleet of cars, his yacht on

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the Mediterranean, his livestock, they all go, his mansion gets put up on the market and is sold,

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his investment properties, his fortune 500 company and Mrs. Merchant thinks she and the kids are next.

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Everything goes to secure that one pearl of great price. Now I'm a curious guy and you're curious too.

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What on earth could that pearl symbolize that would be so valuable it requires me giving up

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everything I have to secure it. Any ideas? Now this is the teacher in me. Turn to someone next.

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Now this is the teacher in me. Turn to someone next to you. What do you think that pearl represents?

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Everybody now turn to someone next to you. Take a moment. What do you think that pearl represents?

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All right you got that locked in. Someone, someone, what do you think the pearl represents?

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Now I am deaf you need to really shout this out. What do you think the pearl represents? Anybody?

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Yes. Jesus I love that answer. Yes ma'am. God. Okay. Hey you know what it's the young people that

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are raising their hands. Adults these guys are on it. All right way back here in the corner.

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What is it Judy? Salvation. I love that and then one other hand here. Who else had their hand up?

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Okay. Yes. Love. Us. Us. Okay wonderful wonderful. All right we are actually going to see

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that it represents two distinct things at least and maybe encompassing all these things.

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I've actually done research on this and I found that the word pearl is not mentioned a single time

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in the entire Old Testament. It's mentioned nine times in the New Testament and it does not say

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definitively exactly what the meaning of the pearl is. So I got my commentaries out as every

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good student of the word does. I took out spirit of prophecy and man things began to open up. Okay

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so first of this double meaning who said Jesus? All right you got it girl. The first meaning of

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this pearl it symbolizes Jesus or Christ. Picture that perfect pearl. Perfect symmetry, pure white,

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glowing luster, free of any defects. What a fitting symbol of Jesus and his perfect righteousness.

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And we're told that we are to seek Jesus with all our hearts right? Can you think of a Bible passage

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yet suggest we need to seek him with our entire hearts? Look back in the Old Testament Jeremiah.

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Jeremiah chapter 29. Isaiah Jeremiah chapter 29 and let's read verse 13.

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Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 13. Many of you know the promise in verse 11. I know the thoughts that

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I think towards you says the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and

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a hope. I love that promise. We're going to talk about witnessing this afternoon. One of the things

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I like to do whenever Judy and I go out to eat I always on the little receipt you know I pay with

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debit card and on the receipt I always write down thanks so much for the great food and the service.

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God has big plans for your life. Jeremiah 29 verse 11. You never know what those kind of little

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witnessing things will do but two verses below that here is the verse verse 13. And you will seek me

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and find me when you search for me with what? With all your heart. Does God play hard to get?

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You know I'm aware one time there was a young man that was convinced that this young lady was going

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to be his bride and he pursued her with vigor but she was not convinced the other way. She wanted to

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get away from this guy and finally he gave up. You know for any relationship to work it has to be two

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way right? God always seeks after us. He always comes after us looking for our heart looking to

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build a relationship with him but it's got to be a two-way street. That's why God is inviting here

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you shall seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I am a man of faith.

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Search for me with all your heart. I am so thankful that God invites me to seek him and last week God

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reminded me again urge me David I want you to put me first in your life. I want you to seek me with

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all your heart. We need to be like the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8 who was reading the

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scriptures diligently and urgently crying out to heaven. Lord give me light give me understanding

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on this suffering servant in Isaiah 53. I don't understand this man was so in earnest about

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receiving light that God tapped Philip on the shoulder a deacon who was holding evangelistic

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meetings up in Samaria and said deacon you're needed down here on the road leading to Gaza and

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I believe it was like Star Trek Scotty beam me up. I mean I don't think he had to walk you know two

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days to get down there. This guy was in earnest and wanting light this second and there is Philip.

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Can you understand what you're reading? That's the earnestness at which we should be seeking God and

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truth and his word. We should be like the Bereans in Acts 17 who searched the scriptures how

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frequently daily to see whether these things are stuff. Leland Wang was a great revivalist in China

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he was the moody the Dwight L. Moody of China. He had a self-imposed rule that he lived by

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no Bible no breakfast. I'm a guy I like to eat I gotta have my breakfast. This young lady doesn't

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have to eat much for breakfast man I have to have my big old bowl of Kellogg's or whatever it may be

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before I head out the door. God wants us to seek him even more passionately than eating

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breakfast in the morning we should eat from his word. So how is your devotional life? That's a

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rhetorical question. How's your devotional life? Are you seeking God with all your heart?

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I believe we're living in some exciting times and we need to be closer to God now than we've ever

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been in our life to get those signals from him and I believe this word is more relevant

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today than it was back in the Apostles and the Patriarchs time. So let's get into it.

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I've been a professor for the last five years and I can tell you I've been a pastor,

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I've been a ministerial director, and I've been a professor and I think I've been

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the most chaotic busy now that I've been a professor. What do you think Judy?

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I've got nine courses that I teach and this semester I have 200 students we have a bumper

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crop of incoming freshmen this year good problem to have but I am up early and a bed late

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and there are some mornings I have to choose boy that lesson that course that presentation

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that lecture is not super polished that I'm going to give this morning but I'm going to spend time

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with you God I've got to start my day with you.

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All right so let's go to the second meaning now who said us? Us all right.

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Us there you go that is absolutely correct the pearl of great price not only symbolizes Christ

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and the eternal riches of Christ we found in his word but it also symbolizes us it symbolizes lost

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sinners. Jesus's supreme purpose of coming to the earth is found in Luke chapter 19 let's go there

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Luke chapter 19 Luke chapter 19 and children you will recognize this story as Zacchaeus was a wee

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little man climbed up in the sycamore tree to see Jesus and I see a double seeking in this chapter

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Zacchaeus did whatever it took to see Jesus even shaming himself scooting up a sycamore tree how

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did a short little runt of a guy get up to that first limb I can just uh that's kind of a hilarious

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uh picture you know he was he maybe had someone toss him up I don't know but I see a double seeking

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not only was Zacchaeus seeking for Jesus but Jesus was seeking for Zacchaeus and notice what it says

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in chapter 19 verse 10 this is Christ's purpose why he came to planet earth for the son of man

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has come to get wealthy and rich well he he left all that behind the son of man was a poor man

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he left all that behind the son of man has come to seek popularity no the son of man has come to

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seek and to save that which was lost that word seek is very interesting in the original Zateo

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it means to do whatever it takes to secure that object or that person do whatever it takes was

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Jesus willing to do whatever it takes to secure us did he give up all to secure us the pearl of

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great price absolutely look at a cross reference Matthew chapter 18 Matthew 8 chapter 18 says

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almost the identical thing and then it goes into a story Matthew chapter 18 look at verse 11

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Matthew 18 and verse 11 reads for the son of man has come to what to save that which was lost and

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then goes into this story about a farmer a herder had how many sheep hundred cheap and one of those

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little rascals goes missing and that herds person valued that lost sheep more than the 99 that were

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safe in the fold and he went after seeking that one straying sheep so he could find it these verses

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illustrate so well how we are the pearl of great price and Jesus gave up all heaven to secure us

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there is a commentary that Ellen White wrote on the parables you know it is Christ object lessons

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right and in her chapter where she talks about the pearl of great price page 117 this paragraph

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absolutely stuns me she talks about this double meaning the the we're the merchant people seeking

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Christ and Christ is the heavenly merchant seeking us notice what she says Christ the heavenly merchant

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man seeking goodly pearls saw in lost humanity the pearl of great price in man and woman defiled and

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ruined by sin he saw the possibilities of redemption hearts that had been the battleground

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of the conflict with satan you know right up the road here is battlefield right civil war battle

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fought right here it's she says hearts that have been the battleground of the conflict with satan

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and that have been rescued by the power of love are more precious to the redeemer than are those

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who have never fallen stop there for a second Jesus has all these other pearls all these other gems

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all these other unfallen planets unfallen beings this planet in rebellion is more valuable than

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all the other worlds now look would you rather have a brand new Lexus right off the showroom floor

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or a beat up old car that's been smashed I used to say or beat up VW bug and some people say oh

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I'd rather have the beat up VW bug and restore it you know now this this car is in the junkyard

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it has been smashed it is no longer any use to it that's essentially what Jesus is saying here

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hearts that have been the battleground of the conflict with satan that have been rescued by

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the power of love are more precious to the redeemer than are those who have never fallen

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God looked upon humanity not as vile and worthless he looked upon it in Christ

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saw it as it might become through redeeming love he collected all all all the riches of the universe

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and laid them down in order to buy us the pearl of great price may I just speak personally to your

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heart right now you are of infinite value to the heart of God my students fill out something called

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a personal spiritual history where they talk about their upbringing and their spiritual journey

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before they came to southern and since they've been at southern what they would like that journey

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to look like and I tell you some of our students really battle with low self-esteem they didn't

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have a dad in the picture they didn't have parents in the picture and they do the cutting stuff and

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they've had suicidal thoughts and they're in really dark places and this passage assures me

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it assures you that you are infinitely valuable to the heart of God God loves you God has a bright

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special future a plan for your life I am so thankful for that this shows the inestimable

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value of the human soul like the merchant in the parable who sold all he had to purchase the one

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pearl God gave up everything to secure us not with silver or gold but with his own precious blood

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Jesus purchased us first Peter chapter 1 18 19 here's a follow-up thought that hits me not only

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do we have infinite inestimable value in the heart of God but this is how God feels about the people

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around us our work associates our family our neighbors next door God loves them with an

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everlasting love if God cares that much about the lost can we do any less after all we're servants

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of Christ ambassadors of the king God took Abraham Abraham his name came to be out of her the

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cowdies and had him go 1200 miles up over the fertile crescent to the crossroads of civilization

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in Canaan so he could be a light to the pagan nations that's how much God loved the pagans

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and wanted to get their attention and then on the flip side a few hundred years later he had Daniel

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and his three friends go the opposite direction 1200 miles back over the fertile crescent to pagan

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Babylon to be a light in the heathen king's court because God wanted Nebuchadnezzar to be his child

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and I believe that's why God has placed you in your neighborhood in your workplace in your community

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it's not by accident it's by divine design God has put you there to be a light to that neighbor

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next door to that person that works with you in your workplace he wants you to reach that person

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for his kingdom how deliberately and earnestly should our search be for the lost

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June 23 2018 12 members of a soccer team over in Thailand just finished their practice for the day

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their 25 year old coach had grown up exploring the deep recesses of this Thai cave

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and he challenged them let's go for an hour or two back into the heart the bowels of this cave

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and let's explore and what turned out to be an afternoon adventure ended up an absolute hellish

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nightmare because as they were back in there it was ahead of monsoon season but a monsoon came a

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violent thunderstorm floods rains began to flow through the cracks and crevices and into that cave

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and they were literally unable to retrace their way back out that main channel because it was all

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flooded they were two and a half miles back in the recesses of this cave

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immediately the world found out about it word quickly spread I'm gonna read this because I

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want to get it straight listen to how an international community came together to do whatever it takes

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to save these 13 10,000 rescue workers and volunteers quickly converged from around the world

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including Thai navy seals the US Air Force 353rd Special Operations Unit that was the first

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military that was at that time station in Okinawa a hundred divers from Great Britain Australia

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Japan China and elsewhere 50 to 60 doctors representatives from a hundred governmental agencies

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900 police officers 2,000 soldiers in addition there were 10 military helicopters and seven

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nurses as well as hundreds of people working to pump more than one billion liters of water out of

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the cave to try to drop the level for these these 13 to get out the international team had one goal

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in mind to safely extract the 13 from the bowels of the earth British divers discovered the group

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about two and a half miles inside the cave on July 2 2018 but they had a real predicament on their

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hand those channels were completely full of water they had to have scuba gear on to get out and they

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actually used anesthesia to knock the 13 out in a semi-state of unconsciousness so forth they

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sedated them so that they could transport them two and a half hours underwater and praise god

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between July 8 and 10 all 13 were rescued one former Thai navy seal Saman Kunan actually gave up his life

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the Thai government and international community vowed to do whatever it takes to save the 13

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don't you love that motto whatever it takes are you willing am I willing to do whatever it takes

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to reach the people in my circle of influence do you have family members that don't know Jesus

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that don't know this precious truth that will enable us to go through that end time and see

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Jesus when he comes do you have work associates do you have neighbors that god has put a prayer

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burden on your heart are you willing to do whatever it takes are you willing to make out a 10 most

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wanted list not the FBI wanted list but write the names of these people on a piece of paper and begin

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praying diligently for them are you willing to step across the property line take courage as

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pastor Aaron said it's a little fearful to knock on doors a little fearful to greet that neighbor

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but are you willing to get acquainted and build that friendship are you willing to serve practical

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needs are you willing to at the appropriate time to give that glow track or that bible study whether

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online or in person are you willing to invite them to that next evangelistic meeting you do

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are you willing to invite them to that next evangelistic meeting you do god wants to use you

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to reach those 13 that are lost all around you praise god i'm no longer searching

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for buried treasure i never found it by the way never found it i found something far greater in

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value and worth i have found the pearl of great price jesus and his righteousness

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and the lost in my sphere of influence that god is asking me to reach