Why are you here? What are you looking for?

Good to be with you this morning. Enjoy coming here, though it's been a while since I've been. I want to read with you in 1st Kings chapter 19.

1st Kings chapter 19 and verse 1. And we'll start reading at verse 1. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with a sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree, and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I'm not better than my father's. But instead God gives him sleep. Go down with me to verse 7. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for thee.

And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there. And behold, the word of the Elijah.

And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword. And I, even I, only am left, and they seek my life to take it away. And he said, Go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord.

Behold, the Lord passed by in a great and strong wind, rent the mountains and break in pieces the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire a still small voice. And it was so when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entering in of the cave.

And behold there came a voice unto him and said, What doest thou hear, Elijah? Now turn with me back to the book of Genesis chapter 37. Genesis chapter 37 and reading at verse 12. Speaking of Joseph's brethren, it says, And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.

And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said unto him, Here am I. He said unto him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks, and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

And a certain man found him, and behold he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren. Tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.

I just have in mind two questions, and I will be very brief. Just to stir us up as we begin this conference, I want us to be kind of awake so that when the other brethren speak that we will be ready for their ministry. So we have two questions.

What doest thou hear is the first one that we read, and then the second one is what seekest thou. And I just want to ask you and me, why are you here? What doest thou hear? Why are you here? Now I understand from our son, he texted me this morning, that there's going to be a special meal at noon hour. I'm not going to tell anything about it, but he told me we will, I will enjoy it.

So I'm looking forward to that, but that's not why I came. Some people come to sleep. Can you believe it? Some people come to sleep.

I was at a conference when I was much younger, and maybe a bit more feisty than I would be today. And it was a small conference, and they had the preacher sitting beside the pulpit in the seats, a little back against the wall. And this couple came in, and I know they overwork all the time.

By the way, they've passed away now, and they're farmers, but they're not in Iowa, so don't even try to guess who they might be. And they sat down, and I looked at them because I know them, and I thought, I can't believe this. Do you know what a dog is like in the winter when it gets in front of a nice warm wood fire, how it kind of circles around and kind of gets in the right position so it can go off to sleep? Well, I thought to myself, man, if I ever feel like sleeping at a conference, they have figured it out how to do it so your head doesn't bob, and you just sit there, and you look like you're listening, and you're away in another world.

It was so clear. You see, you're judging motives. You can't judge motives.

Yes, you can. Philippians chapter 1, Paul does. He said, some preach Christ even of envy and strife.

You have to be careful. But I thought, what in the world? And I don't know why they came, but some of you could come here today because you know you're expected to. Maybe you live nearby, and if you didn't show up, the Christians, they didn't see the conference, and then you're going to try to make some excuse for not being there.

So you come, but you're not interested. And this couple, they just laid back, perfect posture for a good afternoon sleep. And so what I did, I stared them down until they sat up straight, and they listened to the whole afternoon meeting.

I wouldn't do that today, but at that time, like I say, a little more feisty. I was so disgusted, thinking, you come to a conference, why are you here? But I'm asking myself, and I'm asking you, what doest thou hear? Why have you come? Have you come with expectations that you're going to get something? Really, why are you here today? Ask yourself. At the beginning of this conference, we need to find out what we expect from the conference, and pray for our brethren, that they will have wisdom, and power, and guidance, that when we go away, we will be able to say, well, I got what I wanted.

I remember being at a conference in Northern Ontario, and my wife and I had been going through some difficult times, not in our own lives, but with others, that we needed to have answers to. And on Friday night, and usually that's a small meeting, and somehow it's just kind of, well, sometimes they really stir you up, and sometimes they don't so much. Well, we sat in the meeting, and everything linked with the problem we were helping others with.

By the brother who spoke, he named every single item, and in the order that we needed to hear them. It was like one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. And I don't usually nudge my wife in the meeting, but I nudged her.

I said, we could go home tonight. We've got it. We've got the answer.

And I hope every one of us have come with expectations, and that we will get answers to something that is maybe troubling us, or something we need help with, or guidance with. In the case of Elijah, the problem was, he had lost heart. And I say, thank God for every person here today who has come, who has lost heart, and wants to get that back again.

Sometimes people come to a conference, and some have actually told me, I went to that conference, and I said, this is it. If I don't get help today, I'm leaving, and I'm not coming back. And someone spoke a word, and it turned their heart around, and they were warmed, and encouraged, and they left, and said, I can go on.

And I hope if some of you have come today, and you really feel despondent, that when you leave, you'll be flying high in the enjoyment of the Lord. And so, it's possible that you've come, and you've lost heart. In Joseph's case, he was wandering.

He hadn't lost his heart, but he had lost his way. And I think of believers coming together like this, and maybe you're perplexed. It's not that you want to go the wrong way, but you're just kind of not sure.

And maybe it's a serious matter, and you really need to know. And so, the man said to Joseph, he said, what seekest thou? What are you seeking? What am I seeking? You say, well, you came to speak. No, no, partly, but I came to learn from my brethren.

I came to hear from them, to be encouraged, to be helped, to be guided. And I have sat in conferences where I've been perplexed about things, and a brother got up, and he spoke, and it was just what I needed. So, what are you seeking? Now, we will have time together outside the meetings of the conference, in the interval, and that's great.

But seek blessing there, too, and seek to be a blessing to someone else. There's a lot of work that goes on in the hallways of ministry. So, here we are.

The conference is just starting. Why are you here? Ask yourself, am I serious about being here? Am I just coming along because it's this weekend, and everybody's going to be there? Let's have serious considerations, and look to God, and seek His help. That we will find purpose in being here, and when we leave, we will have been fed, encouraged, heartened again, and directed again, and this will be maybe even the beginning of a new way of life for some.

Maybe some have been saved a little while, and they haven't found their kind of place in the will of God that they would like, and perhaps someone will say just a single word, and that will direct them, and they will go from here having direction and purpose and meaning like they've never had before. But we all have to ask ourselves, what doest thou here? Why are we here? And get the right reason for being here, and if we've been wandering, ask ourselves, what do I really want out of life? And seek to find direction. So it can be fresh heart, or fresh direction.

May the Lord help our brethren to give that as they minister the word.