Let God Arise - Part 2

I see much much red crops, and the crops are ready to harvest, and then I saw a lot of roads and they were narrow ones, and there were people on these roads, and they got onto the road by dumping all their stuff, and then they were able to harvest the fields. So we pray Lord Jesus, in your mercy, we will learn of you, and we invite the Holy Spirit to be within our hearts now, and to go on doing this. I don't know if you've ever heard, but there's a parable about the man who collected pearls, and then he found a very special pearl, one of the, it was so beautiful, that he went and sold everything that he had to buy the field that had the pearl in it. And I know that usually we say that that parable is for those of us who understand the beauty of Jesus, and so we're willing to give up everything to receive his love, but actually I think it might be the other way around. He loved us so very much, and he found us so beautiful, that he gave his life, he gave everything he had to buy us, and that's the love of Christ. And I know it, it's nothing, it's nothing at all, to dump the rest. It's nothing. Choking is going to share a little bit of his history. My name is Choking, and I've taken heroin for, I have taken heroin for over 10 years. All the ways you could think of to get off drugs by myself, but there is no way. I tried by buying medicine, I tried by tying myself up, by banging myself. But when they withdraw coins, even when I locked myself in a room, I knocked it down. Even I bought some chains, and I chained myself up. But when I was in extremity, even then I could find a way to get back to clean. And through this I lost all those that were dear to me, I lost my family. And my life, and my way of living was pathetic. And I really thank the Lord, because a couple of years ago, a brother took me to a war city. And in war city I came to know Jesus, and then I was allocated a place in a house. And everybody in the house prayed for me, and they also taught me how to pray in Chinese. But when I got to the new house, on the first or second day, I still wanted to steal. Why? Because I didn't want to pray, I didn't want to use a prayer book. But God used a lot of ways to keep me there, for instance the helper kept watching me. But I know that man cannot do this, and I still wanted to stay away. But God used another way to help me. So God used another way to help me. And it began to fall with rain, very hard. You want to know how long it rained? Four days. But there was no way, there was nothing I could do, all I could do was follow them to pray. And as soon as I began to pray, I could go to sleep. And when I woke up, I felt hungry and I couldn't eat. Normally, when I come to have drugs, in the past, there would be no way that I could eat or sleep for thirty days. But on this occasion, I could canoe and swim on the fourth day. This is God's way of helping me. Well, my family had left me and all my friends had left me, but now the Lord has given me new friends and new family. So God is very ingenious, you know, He can use any way to help any man. Should there be anything you can help him, He can do it. Because He is the one in this world who helps and who loves every man. May God bless you all. About a year and a half ago, I heard the call of God and I went to Macau to work for the Lord. You see, the Lord Jesus helped me, therefore there was a burden in my heart to help others. I went to Macau and although it's a small city, there are about 400,000 people in it. The only things in that city are prostitution, gambling and drugs. So now my job in Macau is to help those who are on drugs and those who don't yet know the Lord to come to believe in Him. We visit their prisons, we visit the old people, we take them to the doctor, we pray for them, we help them. Our motive is to introduce Jesus to them. When He gave 100% for me, I want to give 100% for Him. There was a lady who had six children and I remember going to her house. She lived in a walled city, up a stone staircase. She was on about the eighth floor but she didn't really have a house, she lived on the top of someone's roof. Above her house, she had a plastic tarpaulin bed and the only thing in her room was a bed. And the family lived on the bed, she and her six children, and they cooked on the bed. They ate on the bed, they slept on the bed, they did their homework. And she made her living from carrying water because in the walled city there's not a proper water supply, so you have to go to pumps and then you carry buckets. And she used to carry two buckets a time and she would have got the equivalent of one pea or half a pea for that, going up to the eighth or ninth floor carrying water for people. And somebody said to me once, would you please go visit her? And I was very new in Hong Kong, I only been there a very short time. And I was appalled when I saw the condition of her family and her children, they were very shy. And they were so shy that the only thing they could do when they went to their house was to face the wall. And I suppose usually in this country if we're shy, we can hide in the garden. But all those children could do was face the wall, because there wasn't anywhere to hide in their house. So every time I went to see them, they sat in a row facing the wall and I talked to my mother. Her husband was a drug addict, and so anything that, any money that we gave he would take, and he never gave her any money. So I used to go and tell her about Jesus, and I didn't have anything. I just arrived in Hong Kong, I didn't have any money to give her. I had nothing except I could visit her, and I didn't have very much Chinese. And I introduced her to Jesus, and I can remember her, she was such a sweet lady. And she used to sit there so happily, and I said, I'm so sorry, but there's not much I can give you. And I tried to buy some dried sausages, because I didn't think her husband would be able to sell those. And all they ever ate was jok. It's a kind of liquid rice, you boil the rice and it comes into a kind of water, and that's what they lived on. But she used to sit there, and she said, I'm alright, I know Jesus. And I used to visit her throughout the years. And then one day, I was away, and then I came back. And the children came to tell me, my mother has died. And I'd only seen her a week before that she had died. What had happened was that she had TB, and she'd gone to the doctor, and he said, I've got a cough. And he said, here's some medicine. And she hadn't been examined, she hadn't been x-rayed. And I remember going to the funeral with the family. Would you be glad, or would you be sad? I would be glad in a way, because she knew when she was good, and I knew when she was. So sad for her children, so sad. And the husband showed no signs of changing. And I can remember just crying, and I felt so guilty, because she shouldn't have died. Nobody in our communities could die of TB these days. It's not necessary. There is medicine. And I knew about Hannah. No reason she should have died. Hannah was too late. And I cried then, and I cried since. Because you see, I knew about Hannah. But there were more in my family, because they didn't know her. God, this is terrible. I don't have time to get to them all. The lady that asked me to go visit that family, she used to keep coming. And she used to keep saying, would you go visit this one? She asked me to visit a family where there were 12 children. They were expecting one more. The reason they had 12 was that they were all girls. The father wanted a boy, because they can't. And they all lived in a bed space. They didn't even have a room. This lady asked me to go visit another family, where the mother was in mental hospital, having had a breakdown. And the father was trying to look after six children, and had to give up his job to do so. She kept asking me to visit all these people. And I said to her, why? Why me? I mean, there are lots of Christian organizations in Hong Kong. And they've got money, and they know how to give out clothes and things. You know, I've just come, and I haven't got anything. And she said, I've asked you to go because I know you care. It's as simple as that. What I want to share with you tonight is how we get to do the right thing. How we get to gather in the harvest. And I suppose the example that we start with has to be the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. For when I listened to the poem two nights ago, if God had a thought pen, what would he write? You see, I knew he wouldn't write anything. I'm sure the poet knew that too. He could have, but he sent his son. He didn't send a paper message. He sent the Word of God. And there will never be a substitute for making Jesus known. But the Word made flesh. A piece of paper will not do. Although I'm sure Bibles will help. Jesus did not send a book from heaven. He sent his son. And here's what those who met his son said. I'm Whitney from 1 John 1. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we've seen with our eyes, which we've looked at and our hands have touched, this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. John kept on about this. He was very excited, you see, because he had heard the Word of Jesus. He had seen with his eyes, he had looked at, and his hands had touched the Word of life. That whom he referred to in John's Gospel, chapter 1, verse 13, 14, is the Word become flesh. It became flesh and dwelt among us for a while. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son. Which came from the Father, full of grace and truth. And the writer of Hebrews put it like this. In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. But in these last days, he's spoken to us through videos and books and cassettes. Sorry, no. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory. And if we want to know what God is like, exactly, exactly what God is like, we look at his Son. The Son is the radiance of God's glory, and the exact representation of his being. That was why God sent his Son, so we could see what he was like. He could have written it in the sky, he could have thrown a dart. But he sent his Son, so we could look at his Son and know what he was like. That's why Jesus kept talking about his Father. He said, if you see me, you've seen the Father. You want to know what God's like? Look at me. Those who accept me, the Father will accept. The Son is the radiance of God's glory, and the exact representation of his being. Sustaining all things by his powerful word. So God, in order to make himself known to us in his mercy, sent his Son. Now think about the people who met him. Think about those who were never the same after they met him. No, I'm not against tracts, I'm not against books. But it was so much more fun when he was there. Think of the people that he left behind. Think of that woman who was taken in adultery, and she should have died. Legally, she was guilty, she should have died. Think of her being brought into the middle of that crowd. And expected to die at any moment. And then suddenly, looking up, seeing no one there except him. And hearing him say, neither do I condemn you. Go. I can go. I was guilty, and I've been set free. I was forgiven in public. And the blind man, the one who'd never seen his face. He was born. Going in, washing the mud out of his eyes. And coming back, I don't know if he was laughing or crying. I would have been crying. I can see, I can see, I can see. And the lame man that was made straight. And the one that had been lying down on the mattress. The one that was let through the roof. I'm forgiven. I can walk. There were hundreds of them. There were thousands of them. And after they met him, they told their friends. He did it. Who did it? He did it. You know. Who? Him? Who? The one. Which one? You know. The one we were waiting for. Who? Jesus? Where can I meet him? I think he's passing by tomorrow. Oh great. I'll take the day off. And so they did. Five thousand men one day. They took all that annual relief to catch him. Because you see, if he was passing by, nobody would ever be the same again. And they were so excited, they all forgot their sandwiches. Five thousand. Never the same again. Their wives must have been excited too. Because apparently they were there even though they weren't counted. Forgot their sandwiches. No one was ever the same. After they met him. And they met him because he was there. He was there. They could touch him. And the word went round to him. If you touch him, you get made a whole. So was that lady with the rare infirmity disease. She spent all her money on doctors. She tried everything. Everything you could think of. And she heard. And you could just get near him. And you could just stick out your finger. And touch the edge of his throat. You could get made a whole. Because you see, everyone who's ever tried it did. Wow. I had nothing to lose. I could just slip in there. And so on that day, in the press of the crowd. She slipped in there. And she stuck out her hand. And she quickly touched him. And that thing was enough to heal her. She was never the same again. The issue of blood dried up. And that which man could not do. God had healed through a touch. Then there was the woman. The woman who for 18 years had been bent. Imagine what it would be like seeing everything from the ground. Because she couldn't walk straight. And Jesus. I don't know whether it was anger. I don't know whether it was compassion. Or maybe both. Should not this one, who has been bound by Satan for 18 years, be set free? And so did the other. It must have been amazing seeing her stand up straight. When her back had been bent double for 18 years. Oh, she was never the same. And you see, you don't need to teach these people how to approach the ghostly. We don't need to teach our men how to witness. It's very simple. You can't keep them quiet. This is what he did for me. When he touched me. Who? You know him. Who? Which one? Oh, Jesus. Or I met him. I had a friend a few years ago. And his brother slept in the streets. Oh, he knew his brother slept in the streets. But his brother was not a good brother. He'd been a bad brother for many years. His family didn't like him at all. So they let him live in the streets. And they kept their address a secret. So he lived in the streets for 40 years, I think. And this man came to me. Having become a Christian. And he said, He said, I'm really worried about my brother who's in the streets. He said, I've tried taking the Bible to him and reading it to him, but he doesn't want to hear. You take the Bible to him and read the Bible to him in the streets? How awful. Why would you do that? The man needs a meal. Not a sermon. He couldn't read, of course. I said, invite him to tea. That'll do. And please choose the best tea house there is. We like doing that. So we chose the best, because we like shocking the waiters. And it was a very expensive one. And I took another friend with me. And this friend was a fat uncle. His name was Uncle Churn. And he's very fat. So Uncle Churn, always willing to come to tea, sat beside me in the restaurant. And in came my friend with his street-leaving brother. And the street-leaving brother came over and he saw Slimey. And he's not a clever street sleeper. Some of them are quite clever. They've managed to sort out little boxes and bags and things. And he wasn't clever at all. He didn't even have a plastic bag with a spare pair of slippers or anything. And he shuffled in. And he was old Slimey. He was spiny and all with terrible skin. And he looked awful. But when he got halfway towards our table, he looked at Uncle Churn, who was sitting by me. And Uncle Churn looked at him. His name is Lalo. And they looked at one another. And simultaneously they both pointed and said, You! They recognised each other. And it turned out that the last time they'd seen one another, they were both in prison for drug offences. Now Uncle Churn, I should say, had been a police sergeant. And after he'd booked people for their heroin crimes, he used to steal their heroin and smoke it. And so that's why he eventually became an addict and then met Lalo in prison. But he had later come to believe in Jesus, and that's why he was looking so healthy. So Lalo looked at Uncle Churn, and they were all sitting down around the table, around the teapot. And Lalo says to Uncle Churn, You've got to go. Why do you say that? And Uncle Churn says, as they all do, It's Jesus. OK, Lalo said, I'll have him. So we prayed for him over the teapot. We didn't need to say any more. That's enough gospel. I know you think that's shocking, but it is, you see. He knew that it had to be an extraordinary power that would change an addict, that would set free someone who'd been by. And if Uncle Churn said it was Jesus, OK, I'll have Jesus. So just before we prayed, we said, Are you willing to believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Yes. And are you willing to believe that he died for you? Yes. No idea what it's all about. And do you believe that he rose again? Yes. They never have any problem about the resurrection. Never. So we said, Would you like to follow him? He said, Of course. So they questioned. He wanted to be fat. So we prayed for him over the teapot. And he began to pray in tongues. And after about five minutes, he looked up. He thought it was time to get on with the other tea. And so he began drinking the other tea. And then I said to Lalo, How many times have you been arrested? And he said, Well, He said, It's been 67 times. And he said, Next time it's going to be 68. I said, How many of them have you done, Lalo? He said, About half. About half the time he got arrested for things he hadn't done. And it's very easy to pick someone like him up. He looks so awful. So they just pin coins on him all the time. But that's how came to Jesus. And that's how he began a new life. And he became the most wonderful man. The most wonderful man. Took a little time. Jesus did good work on his heart. Because he was frightened, you see. Well, I suppose he would be if he slept on the streets for 40 years. To begin with, he wasn't that sure that Christians were all right. He was a little afraid they were going to come and bash him with what he couldn't read. But slowly he learned to trust. It took some time for him to eventually forgive his family. They put a curse on him. They actually had. And he forgave them. And he became quite ill. And he knew that Jesus was going to call him home. And he was actually very, very ill. And he still prayed all the way through. He used to say, I put all my trust in my Jesus. I put all my trust in my Jesus. And he went on as jail. He went on to the one that he was known for. All those years. And I miss him very much. Because in him I saw the grace and the love of God that very rarely seen in the other man. Another man laid on him to commend him. All his life he just wrote vicious things. All his life. He'd been sticking needles in his arm and put him crazy. And he only knew how to curse and how to kick. He only knew how to be shoveled into a gutter. But in the end he was the one out of them all who blessed me. For he gave freely. He used to love me to be with Jesus. And he said, I just want to use all the time that I've got left here to share Jesus with other people. For my Jesus will save me. For my Jesus loves me. Preaching the gospel is making Jesus known to the world. And he did that. He did that because you see after he knew Jesus he became like me. He could see Jesus in me. And when people cursed at him he didn't curse back. And even to the end he went to them and said I want to introduce you. But he changed me. He set me free from heroin. He gave me a home. And he talked to me in the night sometimes. Somewhere along the way he learned to read a bit. But his greatest discovery was that Jesus talked to him in the night. And for the last six months of his life he used to come to me occasionally and say he told me some things last night. He talked to me last night. And this is what he said. You want to know where I get my sermons from? The men who know Jesus. And those who were alive when Jesus was on earth knew him because he touched them. Because he changed their lives. And then they saw the love of God. They saw the love of the Father. They could understand and respond. And this is what Jesus gave to us to do. We read in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 19 God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on God's behalf be reconciled to God. We are Christ's ambassadors as though God were making his appeal through us. I still don't understand. I still don't understand how he dared to do it. How he dared to leave the world to us. But he gave us the privilege, you see. God the Father gave us the same privilege of making him known through his Son. So we it sounds quite an outrageous statement to make but you see, we are like Christ in the world. That's what he said when he said we're to be light and we're to be salt. Because nobody would know what he was like otherwise. And we're to be it. We're to preach the gospel. Not just with words but with our lives. By being Jesus. It's much more fun that way. Because you could think every time if Jesus were here and there's this woman dying of TB or there's this whole family with no mother to look after them or there's a father worried because there's a mental mother if Jesus were here, what would he do? How would he deal with this family? Would he say come to our guest service on Wednesday? Or would he say give you a little booklet to help you? It's wonderful when you think how he'd do it. And you know, once I understood that I wanted to learn to do it how he did it. I didn't want to do it any other way. Because I wanted people to be touched by Jesus and never to be the same. I can't say I've done this. I'm learning. I wonder if any of us could. But through Paul even commended himself or recommended himself. This is what he said. Our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived amongst you for your sake. And surely even if there are some men in this world who are called to preach the gospel by letter or by writing surely in the end men must go. For there is no substitute for the word being made flesh. It's called incarnation. And that's how God's love is made known. You know how we lived amongst you for your sake. Would any of us say that to the people around us? You know how I lived amongst you for your sake. Oh no. It's much easier to ask you to admit it because somebody else will preach the gospel. But actually the way Jesus preached it was by being it. He lived it. You see, he didn't speak the message. He was it. I found myself in the world where they didn't understand it at all. I thought they preached the gospel. So I learned how to do it. And it's God's simple. You've probably picked up some of the children's badges by now which go which means Jesus loves you. It was very disappointing because I found it didn't work. And I tried saying Jesus loves you and he was squatting over his chair and it was very upsetting. All she needed to say was, I've read about people who said it to other people and I tried it on a gambler. I had a gambler there and I said, Jesus loves you. And he said, well, I'm not going to say it. And I tried it again learning one more word and I have to end it really He really loves you. And he said, go find someone else. I didn't have time. Actually, he wasn't being rude. I was just spoiling his business, you know, because he kept crying up and down and he was watching the door and it's not like I was there. Well, it's very disappointing when people won't listen to the gospel. You know what we did? We preached it to help God. I'm almost ashamed now except that I know God honors the heart. We're all being angry but you see, I was sitting in a street and there were rows and rows and rows of them about a hundred and they were doing what's called the way of inhaling things and I was walking over there feet passing out on the track and you know what was on the track? They could have led them messages about God's love and you know what, of course, they did with the track. They rolled them up met them smoking the word of God terrible on their course. They weren't smoking the word of God they were only smoking a bit of paper and they didn't know anything about the word of God if they'd been able to read they could have read that God loved them or they could have seen come to a meeting on Sunday night at 7 o'clock but they wouldn't have come because they hadn't got shoes and that's just what James is talking about in his epistle when we offer someone the word of God but we don't feed them and help them and do what's practically necessary for them to understand God's love and enter in in his full salvation or when we see somebody in need and we pass by nearly with a greeting you know that Snoopy cartoon it's a very good one and the cartoon goes like this there's a cartoon from Snoopy and it's wintertime and it's freezing and there's the first lock it's shivering and then in the next one Charlie Brown walks by and he's very happy he's got a scarf and a nice thick jacket and a balaclava and gloves and he walks by Snoopy and then he sees Snoopy's cold so he stops and he decides to walk back it's Christmas time so he goes over to Snoopy and he says be of good cheer Snoopy and in the last frame Charlie Brown has gone off very happy because he's spread good cheer and Snoopy's still freezing and there's a question mark above his head how can we sing we love God whom we have not seen and we don't love our brother whom we have seen and when we see him in need of clothing and daily food he says bowels of compassion it's pretty dangerous to shut your bowels up you get really sick or messy that's what the scripture says it's a good place to be moved and if we shut up our bowels of compassion we get sick so don't let any of us who ever met Jesus would know a little bit about the way he touched us and changed us and then he invites us simply to do that for our neighbour by being Jesus what would he do how would he meet this man's need what would he say to that one now when I tell you these stories about Hong Kong when I tell you about the people that we pray for and how we can go and pray for a street sleeper and he may instantly believe and be healed you may wonder well that's what you can do but what about me and that we can all do this and that's why I had Chor Ging to share just now because you see he's a pious and he's only really followed Jesus for two years but out of the gratitude of his heart because he's so pleased that Jesus did not despise him or leave him in the gutter all he wants to do is to share him with other people now our people aren't educated none of us have any money we don't have churches with appeals except the love of Jesus the power of the Holy Spirit and what other people have given to us so we're able then to give all that away and that's what Chor Ging does in Macau and that's why more and more and more people are coming to know about Jesus yesterday we looked at a little bit of Samuel and I want to follow on looking at Samuel because I would like to know how can I find out what I'm supposed to be doing or how can I find out my ministry yesterday we looked at one Samuel if you have Bibles it would be helpful to follow and we saw that God had a plan and the plan was for the redeeming of the nation his plan is always the same always for the saving of the nation and in his plan he chose to use Samuel and it was a set up job Samuel was planted so to speak but he had to come to know the Lord himself and then he had to die to his own embarrassment or fear and then he was able to preach the word throughout Israel in chapter 7 of one Samuel here he is and he's considering that the people are in sin and so he calls them together in verse 3 and invites them to return to the Lord and to rid themselves of foreign gods and commit themselves to the Lord and serve him only and that's what some of us did yesterday and I believe that's what the picture about gathering in the harvest showed if we rid ourselves of our baggage it's very easy to gather in the harvest the baggage being our treasure that's all whatever our treasure is the things which own us I met a man who's recently dumped his baggage he's a very good friend and I met him first of all about 4 years ago in Hong Kong he's a very well known solicitor and he came to visit us and he saw where we lived and he saw what we did and he saw us eating in a street stall and he was terrified you know why he was terrified because if he became a Christian he'd have to work amongst the poor oh God he said so he managed to avoid us for all the time he was in Hong Kong he was on a very special case so he went night clubbing every night earned an enormous income in court and finally nearly made it out of Hong Kong but we trapped him at the airport and it was very funny we actually went to see someone else off met him, his name's James and he looked at us and said oh I nearly made it and I knew why he was running and there's no need to say anything more I said well too bad God's going to get you he said yes I know and later on in London a good friend of his kept on at him and it was through hearing a prophecy that he gave his life to Jesus and then later on at a wedding I had a message in tongues in his car and that did that and he then was baptised and then he decided okay I always knew if I was going to become a Christian I'd have to minister to the poor he knew that he knew it went together so he came back to Hong Kong and he stayed with us for three or four months he was wonderful because he didn't wait around for jobs to do he just did whatever there was he rolled up his sleeves he washed the loose he was a servant like very few we've ever had he was great and then he came back to England and he said oh God I really want to stay out there in Hong Kong and God said I want you back in the city oh God he said do I have to go back to the city God said yes I want you there so he's back in the city and do you know what his job is he's a financier and he has a great great talent this man for making money a great talent so you know what he does you know what he does with it he's set up a trust and he puts the money from his business into the trust and the trust finances Christians poor Christians working for the poor all around the world and you know how he lives he lives rather simply he doesn't need to because he's a top banker and he works in the city and he could very easily say he needs a high lifestyle because he's working with those people that he doesn't he lives very simple you see he hasn't got any baggage the money doesn't owe him it doesn't he'd rather not be there but that's where God has put him he's disposed of his treasure you see it doesn't own him it doesn't grip him that world has no appeal for him it lost its appeal when he found the pearl of great price so he dumped his baggage and that's what some of us were trying to do yesterday rid yourselves of the foreign gods rid yourselves of anything which takes the place of loving God and serving Him whatever it is whether it's limitations on our time or the places we're willing to go to or our room or our talents or whatever it be so Samuel encouraged the people to do this and then they fasted and they confessed and then we read in the next few verses that the Philistines this is Israel's enemy upon hearing that there was a large crowd of Israelites gathered decided to use this opportunity to attack them and then the people were very afraid and they said to Samuel please don't stop crying out for us cry to the Lord our God that He may rescue us from our sins and then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to the Lord he cried out to the Lord on Israel's behalf and the Lord answered him and the Lord answered him through a miracle by sending a thunderstorm and it thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites and the men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and killed themselves so by a miracle after ridding themselves of gods and confessing and calling upon the Lord the enemy is routed we've got lots of battle stories Andy's got lots I've got lots and I don't know about Andy but I'm really frightened of blood and I hate fighting and I keep getting in the middle of fights and in the middle of fights I'm never sure whether I'm terrified or angry or I'm not sure if my heart feels compassion or anger against the enemy not against God but against the enemy and many times I've been in that situation really frightened one time I was sitting in a cafe and my knees were knocking I mean they were knocking and I was shut in there because I'd stolen somebody's prostitute she'd come to live in my house and I didn't want to let her go and they wouldn't let me go until I produced her I thought I was a pretty poor alternative but anyway they'd lost their source of income and would refuse to let me go and the gang leaders stood on the table and they'd all got knives outside and I thought oh God because I'd tried Jesus on them and that hadn't worked and I haven't got any other topic of conversation I was whispering in tongues under the tablecloth and oh God you know and after praying in tongues for a bit I just got up walked towards the door I must just go buy some vegetables and went outside and managed to jump onto a minibus just as there were two cars waiting outside with men with knives just as they got out of the cars so I managed to escape them and in the end we rescued Angel and in the end I heard what that gang thought and they said to Angel's family when they went to try to find out where I lived they said you know there's something about that girl when we sat in the cafe with her we were really frightened of her no you don't feel very strong when you're biding for the Lord you feel weak most of the time because it says and now let the weak say I am strong it doesn't mean feeling strong you'll always feel weak it doesn't mean convincing myself I'm strong it just means knowing that my strength is in Him so here's Samuel doing pretty well with a miraculous battle Bible's full of them putting the enemies to flight so there's Jackie in Hong Kong with all these tried gangsters how about you? well what happened in this story was that the people of Israel although Samuel had done so well and they knew it was God who'd rescued them they wanted a king and they said we really do want a king and Samuel said you won't like him he'll take your taxes and give you a hard time and put your people into servitude and they said we do want one just a warning I don't want to go on too long about it but I think that many of us do look to men even men of God when we're supposed to be looking to the Lord anyway to go on in his mercy God heard their cry and although Samuel wasn't too keen on the idea God said I'm going to appoint them a king and I'm going to pick the story up in chapter 9 because this is where you and I come in this is how we find out how to start working this is how we find out our ministry or our role in life how to get on with the job here we are in chapter 9 there was a Benjamite a man of standing whose name was Kish verse 2 he had a son named Saul and he was very impressive to many of the others and in verse 3 his father tells him go look for the donkeys now this is about where we start and I want to say really strongly at this point that it's very important that we don't look for our ministry it would be much more important if we looked for donkeys why? well that's what we did looking for at that time and in order to preach the gospel in a way that people will understand we are going to have to become a blend of practical and spiritual I mean what did Jesus do when they were hungry he melted like bread he didn't pray for them that their stomachs would hold out that was a pretty good blend of practical and spiritual he gave them bread made them full and he healed all their diseases so don't look for a ministry well Saul wasn't he was looking for donkeys and he and his servant went on and they went on so long that they got worried that the father would stop worrying about the donkeys this time there's a man of God he's highly respected and everything he says comes true let's go there now perhaps he'll tell us what way to take so they're going to see a man of God I don't know if they want God's things or not but the man of God has the answers that's a pretty good place to start they're looking for Christ I don't know if they're looking for Christ but they do know and the more we live Jesus the more they will know that he has the answers I'll tell you about it that we prayed with a few years ago and he knew that we took blankets and rice boxes regularly and that some of his friends had got healed and some of his friends thought he was very receptive so the first time that we met and he was clutching his chest and I said how do you feel? and he said well I've got this chest complaint and I said oh would you like me to pray for you? and he said well he said is that alright? I'm a Buddhist I said yes it's fine he said I'm a Buddhist I don't know if it's ok to pray in Jesus name and I said well if you'll allow me I will you see Buddha's dead and Jesus is alive and he said true so I started to pray for him and when I prayed for him some of us are going to practice this tomorrow in the afternoon session I didn't say anything I had my eyes open and I prayed silently and really what I prayed was help and Holy Spirit invaded the child and I saw him after about 30 seconds he began to relax I said oh that was soon I feel very loose so I said oh that's because Jesus is touching me he's the son of God would you believe that? he said yes and then I went on to pray for him a few more half seconds and then he looked happier and happier and I said how do you feel now? he said my chest feels really good and I said you know when Jesus was on earth he was always doing that kind of thing always was you know everyone he touched got made better and you're feeling like that because although he healed everyone he'd ever met he put him on a cross and he knew what your chest pain felt like because he felt that chest pain and everyone else's pain at the same time would you believe that he died for you when you see this? and then after about a half minute I said to him would you believe that he rose again? he said yes I know that he's just walked under the fire right now would you like to follow him? and he said silly question if he's the true God who else? so I said would you better tell him if you'd like to follow him and by the way he could give you some new words because he knows it's hard to pray so he began to pray in tongues this took 2 or 3 minutes and then I had to leave him and he knew very little or did he? I think he knew whether or not he knew that Jesus had touched him where he hurt which was in his chest he knew he loved him because he'd made him better and he knew that he stayed behind with them you see they understand the resurrection he knew Jesus had walked under the flyover because I came they see that you see and he knew that when I went Jesus was still there because he gave him his Holy Spirit and he could talk to him all day long in a new language that's how he came many come for the wrong reasons many come because we give them rice or blankets or healing or maybe those are the right reasons so Saul and his servant went to see the man of God because apparently he had answers and they met him later but in verse 15 we read that the day before the Lord had revealed this to Samuel about this time tomorrow I'll send you a man from the land of Benjamin anoint him leader over my people Israel he will deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines I have looked upon my people for their cry has reached me now even before Saul had begun his journey Samuel had been told that he was coming God had got the whole thing planned out and there's a plan for your life which won't be the same as the plan for my life I don't know what it is but it would be right for you and it says in scripture that God has foreordained those things that we might walk in but we have to walk in them they don't happen automatically so let's see how Saul walked into his in verse 17 when Samuel caught sight of Saul this is the man I spoke to you about he will govern my people now what had Saul done to deserve this nothing nothing at all he hadn't practiced well in the church he hadn't anything as far as I can see to commend him he was pretty beautiful looking but that was going to get him into trouble he'd done nothing to commend himself to God's service to God's choice is it not amazing that when Jesus ascended to heaven he said I'm going to send my spirit upon you I'm going to send my spirit upon all flesh men and women young men, old men servants all kinds of people high and low I'm going to send my spirit upon you so you can be my witnesses that's everyone everyone gets to be picked everyone gets to do the work of sharing the gospel we're all in it and there's a part for each one to play so let's go on and see how Saul found his I like the next bit this is what I call a double word of knowledge because Samuel says as for the donkeys you lost three days ago don't worry about them they've been found who told them they'd been lost they've been found double word of knowledge and to whom is all the desire of Israel turned if not to you and all your father's family I mean really suddenly here's Saul looking for donkeys and the famous prophet says all Israel's desire is turned towards you and he says oh no I'm just I haven't got a very important family type and you know my family is not even a very important family in that and why do you say such a thing to me well Samuel said it because God had chosen him and the Lord says same to me well Jackie I've chosen you and I've chosen you to do things that no one else can do because I chose you well Chogin I chose you no Jackie can't go to Macau I've chosen you there are people there that she'll never be able to reach but you can we had a a brother who went to South Africa with us a couple of years ago and he's a terribly funny brother he was on heroin for years and years and years and he is a new man but I have to say he doesn't look that new because he's got a glass eye and he's got false teeth and sometimes he doesn't wear either and when we were on the plane to South Africa I looked around at him and I said Dong Yoon if you don't put your eye and your teeth in I'm not letting you off the plane so I didn't think he looked a great adornment to the gospel however he has the anointing and he had decided when he was in South Africa he was going to talk to the black guys so he went around South Africa saying now where are all the black guys and we we stayed with several families who were white guys and as soon as he could he found the gardener or the maid or whoever it was and usually this used to take two or three minutes and he'd say where's Dong Yoon there he was out on the lawn kneeling down on the lawn he and the gardener or he and the maid and they held their hands up and you could see the Holy Spirit on them and they were receiving Jesus and being baptised in the Spirit we still don't know what language they were doing it in on the one occasion it was the gardener who accepted Jesus and was baptised in the Spirit and he only spoke Mother he didn't even speak English and Dong Yoon said he's accepted Jesus and he was speaking but you see he had such a desire to reach those guys and the Holy Spirit came and anointed him that was a set up job I tell you the worst example of that kind was when we were driving to a friend's meeting and there he was in the back of the car with my friend's maid sitting beside him her name was Barbara and he was doing Holy Spirit heart Jesus I don't know she hasn't even come to the meeting yet but he was saying pray and the Holy Spirit was all over the car and he was I thought well really you're going a bit quick better listen to the Gospel first and get at her in the back of the car however she looked quite happy and we got to a meeting and it was a bit like this the meeting and in the meeting for you who are in pain come forward come to me and I will heal you and she came forward I mean silly girl she'd never been to a meeting before she didn't know it was a prophecy she thought that meant come forward and get healed now so she stood in the front you know it wasn't the healing bit it was the speaking bit so she stood there and I didn't know what was happening and she was healed she hurt her leg very badly the day before and God had healed her leg and she said well you said come forward to the Lord so I came forward and I got healed and we prayed with her and she was baptized in the Spirit she gave up smoking and again the next day she came and prayed for a blind person who saw she was hot actually he couldn't stop her every meeting he went to he said come forward pray for people set up job she hadn't done anything to deserve it but you see it was God's heart to reach out then and he was just converted people because she was willing to be used she just made herself a charm so there is a part for each one of us and Samuel said to the cook because they were about to sit down bring the pieces of bread the pieces of meat I gave you the one I told you to lay aside I don't know it was a leg of watch but Samuel said here here is what's been kept for you eat because it was set aside for you for this occasion for the time I said I have invited guests and so dined Samuel that day so I guess that for you and me there is a leg or a thigh bone or a chest or in China they give you a beak sometimes or whatever it is there is a part of the body for us to have and play a part in and it's been reserved for us and it's just for us those are works ordained for us to walk in because there is mercy God has ordained that we should all have a part in bringing the harvest it's a special part for all of us and then after the meal Samuel says to Saul stay here a while so I may give you a message from God and then in chapter 10 he took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and he kissed him saying has not the Lord anointed you leader do you know something here is the anointing oil all over Saul he doesn't even know the Lord yet this is a really put up job he goes looking for donkeys which is what is necessary to do at that time because his father has lost the donkeys and he meets a prophet set up job there is a place for you there is a lake there is a vessel reserved for you we have been keeping it for you here is the anointing and then there are signs given by Samuel which will confirm to him that when the Holy Spirit comes upon him this is of God verse 6 the spirit word in chapter 10 the spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power and you will prophesy with them and you will be changed into a different person once these signs are fulfilled what is he to do this is how we are to find out our ministry in life do whatever your hand finds to do for God is with you so Saul having been anointed with oil having been told about a few signs goes off and Saul turned to leave Samuel God changed Saul's heart and all those signs were fulfilled that day he was converted and tonight somebody prayed that prayer it was this afternoon and she prayed God change our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh and I believe that's what happens when we come to know Jesus I was telling you about Laura whom I miss so much his heart was changed his heart was changed by Jesus he had every reason to be bitter and to be angry until the day of his death when he became such a sweet man for his heart was changed in knowing Jesus and he was so grateful to be loved and forgiven and set free from heroin and to find a home and friends and a family his heart was changed this is what happened to Saul this is what happens to any of us when we come to know Jesus and if we have grown hard I think we can ask him to do it again this probably happened because we forgot what he did for us it will hurt a little bit it will because when he makes our hearts soft again we begin to see other people that are in pain but it's alright because when he makes our hearts soft he equips us this is what happened to Saul when they arrived at Gibeah a procession of prophets met him and the spirit of God came upon him in power and he joined in their prophesying funny isn't it the oil came first and then his conversion his heart was changed and then the spirit came upon him in power and he prophesied now the oil couldn't do it until his heart was changed even though the oil had poured out upon him to make him king it was the heart changed towards the Lord then he was equipped to do what God had called him to do which was to be king he didn't want to be king that was what God had chosen for him it was not Saul's ambition and then he was empowered and he went on prophesying and he's a very smart guy because he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship and this I think is the smartest thing that Saul did you know I often meet people that say a certain prophesied over me and they said I'm going to have a ministry of this or that they're really stupid to say that if anybody did ever prophesy over you and told you what was to happen keep quiet because be sure it's the Lord you must walk in it I know somebody who says oh I've been told I'm going to be an evangelist I said have you started speaking to people about Jesus yet and he said no he's waiting for somebody to put him on a platform and no you begin with one man you'll never turn into an evangelist until you have a heart to reach one man why should anyone offer you a platform to be an evangelist he's already chosen what we're to do and then we ask or we receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and then we start doing whatever there is to do here because we're surely not going to do it in Hong Kong we haven't done it here and you know when I look back on how I got to Hong Kong and how I got there was that instead of going to a raga match one Saturday afternoon I went preaching in Mitchley Mitchley I knew I was converted then we were knocking on people's doors inviting them to a sausage sizzle and I was I'm not going to tell them about Jesus at the sausage sizzle I knew I was converted but at least I moved in Mitchell this is where you start you start with the grand mission start where you are start with your house start with your neighbour start with the person you work with start sharing what you have where you are you're not going to do it anywhere else if you don't do it here and you don't need to tell anybody else what you think God promised you so it's all hid and Samuel went to find him and he was hiding with the baggage if God promises our ministry to anyone be sure if it's of God it will be announced by our doing it so Samuel brings him out and he says this is a great man and most of the people shout long live the king and some say who do you think he is how can this fellow save us and Saul I said this church no you don't need to if it's your ministry it will be recognised men will honour what they see is from God so what's happened to Saul oil conversion power of the Holy Spirit gifts of the Holy Spirit humility now what's he doing I mean he is king chapter 11 first it was donkeys now it's oxen that's it want to find out how to serve the Lord start with the donkeys start with the oxen because you see when we are anointed by the Spirit of God and we listen to what the Lord says we are going to walk into what he has prepared for us to do it's very simple and so when he hears that the enemy has attacked some of his people and is going to gouge out their eyes suddenly he is angry he is angry at the enemy and that's quite right so when we see poverty and when we see injustice yes be angry but be angry with the enemy and the power of the Spirit came upon him in verse 6 he burned with anger quite right be angry that the enemy has taken over this country be angry and in the power of the Spirit move out from where you are which is probably walking behind the oxen and see what God will do through you and so an army gathers behind Saul and he has a wonderful victory and because of the victory some of the people then in verse 12 say well look at that lot who wouldn't recognize Saul before we ought to put them to death and Saul knowing that the whole thing was arranged by God anointed by God carried out by God because of his mercy and compassion says no no one shall be put to death on this day for this day the Lord has rescued Israel he doesn't start using his position of authority and it's the Lord's authority he doesn't start using it to rule or condemn men so all the people went to Gilgal and confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the Lord that was when he was confirmed and so this is what I want you to do if you've been challenged at all by the words which God has spoken inviting us to preach the gospel well maybe it isn't inviting he's told all of us to if you've heard about the poor in the world and certainly those next door and you wonder how do I start and what do I do it's for each one of us and it's different and God has arranged it second don't look for a ministry but ask for your heart to be changed then the power of the spirit to come upon us to equip us to do whatever it is that's in that plan and then we go on doing what there is round about the ordinary things the oxen the washing up the loo the feeding the hungry next door the looking after the man at the gate the understanding who my neighbour is for sure I'm not going to help my neighbour in India until I've recognised him in Brentwood and he is here that's how we begin and you know if we do that suddenly we'll find ourselves in the ministry that we're supposed to be in and we don't need to announce it someone else will recognise it and in God's good time it will be confirmed so let's stand let's pray we bless you Lord and we thank you that you've got work for each one of us to do and that you have a special place for each one of us and you can use an old street sleeper to touch others and bring them healing miraculously you can use a drug addict to preach the gospel you can use anyone Lord we don't know why you would choose to use us but thank you and thank you that there's a special place and there's a portion for each one of us and we want to be nowhere else but in what you've prepared for us to walk in so we ask you now in your mercy to change our hearts change our hearts Lord for some of us have grown hard in our hearts and we've forgotten who our neighbour is or maybe we never saw him or maybe we walked past and we've got bowel diseases half of us and we shut them up now Lord in your mercy through your Holy Spirit in your mercy in your mercy don't turn from us in your mercy in your mercy Lord move our hearts open our eyes again to see who are the poor who are those who are dying for lack of seeing you who we need to go to in the flesh to manifest the love of the Father to Lord in your mercy open our eyes in your mercy open the eyes of your ministers of your church leaders forgive us Lord for being busy with our programs and missing the man on the wayside Lord send your mercy upon the church send your mercy upon your people here change our hearts in the name of Jesus change our hearts heal our bowels and we're sorry for the mess we made now we'd like to pray particularly for those of you who have heard God's calling to you to preach the gospel and it may be particularly to the poor and we'd like you to walk forward because we're going to pray for God's anointing and for the power of his Holy Spirit to come upon you but remember you'll have to walk in this God can pour over the oil and the Spirit can come upon you but you'll have to walk in it so would those of you who want to receive this power of the Holy Spirit for whatever it is God is calling you to do whether you're sure of what your ministry is or not would you walk forward so we can pray for you we'd like those people who are ready to pray for them some of you as the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon you will prophesy some of you as the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon you will speak in tongues if you've asked for this gift before and you've had a problem about it mention it to the person who prays with you and you'll definitely receive this gift to help you pray and walk in the Spirit can you move in a bit and set free and forgiven and fed and clothed and housed and cleaned because of you oh bless you Lord bless you Lord okay God's given you some of your prophetic gifts so if you want to speak them out do those who prayed for ministers of healing receive that now receive that now and those of you who are feeling it that's what it is now if if there are people out here someone with a right ankle problem could you put your hand up okay two right ankle problems here keep your hands up now those of you who prayed for to receive a ministry of healing for the sick or whose hands feel tingly now go find those people with their hands up go and do it now it doesn't matter if you've done it before or not okay someone with pain in the neck who's that you're not a pain in the neck you have one I can't see your hand okay could you come forward we've got another one here so those people who prayed for a ministry of healing come find this sister and go pray for this lady too okay one there over there she's coming forward okay now you know who you are if you prayed for this ministry you're going to start okay somebody's got a left eye problem here she is who else okay lots of people praying for that girl so why doesn't one or two of them come over here otherwise she gets sort of six times over prayed for who's got the right ear pain you've got very bad pain in your ear who is it who's got very bad pain in the ear right now okay will you own up later please who's got a hearing problem they're very weak okay okay the person's over there now someone who's been praying for this ministry of healing will you go over Andy maybe you'd go over as well it's difficult to get there she's sitting down okay with lady with glasses okay and there's one over here also okay now some of you nearby those people also begin to pray for them let's bless those people who don't need to pray so Lord heal these people in Jesus name and as you've called us and equipped us and anointed us Lord teach us how to do the job in your name bring your healing now in your mercy because of your heart for these they should be made whole come now it's okay it's not unspiritual to pray with your eyes open it's okay it sort of helps to see what God's doing yes