Is it an insult to be called a Jar of Clay? It’s not the worst thing I’ve been called by a long way, but last week I had the pleasure of speaking three times on the same passage; 2 Corinthians 4, where Paul described himself that way. The deeper I dug into the passage, the more instructive and inspiring I found it in a world where sometimes we feel all too frail and inadequate and others are only too glad to affirm that picture.

Opponents – in the church –  were saying Paul was unimpressive and ugly, a rubbish speaker, manipulative, a deceiver, a false teacher, money grabbing (anyone would think he was trying to do ministry in the 21st century! If you want to see vociferous nastiness like this just google Rick Warren’s name – look what bloggers galore write about him, and the guy’s amazing!).

What was Paul’s response?

Well it wasn’t like mine. I’d step right up to defend myself on every point. I’ve done it before for sure, perhaps because we are taught to defend our image and self esteem at all costs. Now Paul does declare that he has nothing to hide, because integrity matters – but then he also shows that he’s got nothing to prove either. How?

They said, “You’re rubbish!” And we’d want to affirm our self worth etc. but Paul says the most surprising thing…

‘You’re right.’

You’re absolutely right.

‘…we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.’ 

Remember Paul described himself as being the ‘chief of sinners.’ He said at the start of this passage he only had any ministry at all because of the MERCY of God.

The God who puts his treasure not in the best china, but disposable containers.

The greek word he’s using for ‘earthen vessels’  (ostrakinos) denotes not a decorative item but a pot used for dishonourable things, the slop buckets, containers you wouldn’t let the guest see what was in it. The wheely bin.

Cheap, common, breakable, replaceable. Not essential but essentially valueless. The only value they had was the service they performed. Again, this may not build your self esteem!

Paul says, “We have this treasure in a waste basket, in a slop bucket.” In other words, ‘It’s not about me.’

Whole talks I’ve heard about this passage and blogs I read around it etc talk about being ‘cracked pots.’ There’s a problem with that.  It’s not in the text. It doesn’t say anything about the pots being cracked. I wonder whether we want to add that in because we want to make it about US again. The point is not about your cracks. Don’t make it about that.

The point is, the container is NOT the point. It’s what’s inside that matters.

We’re made to contain God! To be containers of God! In Ephesians it says God wants to put his FULLNESS in us. We’re made in his image to carry his glory! This sets us apart from everything else in the whole of creation! We’re meant to carry and contain GOD IN US. That’s why it’s accurate to describe anybody  living without God as living an EMPTY life. Don’t let them fool you. Jung said the world’s suffering “a neurosis of emptiness.” Whatever a person tries to eat, drink, sleep with, sniff, buy or sell to temporarily feel full, will never last or satisfy. They’re empty of what they were made to contain and sometimes some people feel that. Like hollow men and women, dressing up outward shells of busyness – inside resounds echoing emptiness.

Many of us have found that if you ask Jesus, he will give you life to the FULL (John 10:10). You will become a container for God’s glory.  Jars of clay don’t have to be pretty. They’re the most ordinary containers. But there’s something different about them. What? They don’t have TRASH in them but treasure!

That’s how it is with us Christ followers. We’re nothing special filled by Someone Awesome! We have HIM in us who is ‘the hope of glory.’ People may look at us and say, ‘Nothing special…’ But if they take a closer look maybe we can show them what we contain, because we’re containers for God. We’re made in His image to carry his glory! We shine His light! We are valuable – as containers. The treasure inside is priceless!

That’s why the Bible says the Lord didn’t choose many mighty or noble or wise people… (anyone else qualify ?). But it says He chose the lowly and weak, the humble, the despised, the ordinary.

So  they said to Paul…”Give up! Stop trying to make a difference! You’re RUBBISH! You’re weak, ugly and unimpressive, you’re a rubbish preacher, too ordinary, not clever, you didn’t go to the right schools to learn the rhetoric, you’re too old…”

He said, “I know, I know, I’ve gone to pot.” (groan!)

But there’s treasure in the pot.

And when Jesus came looking for containers of his glory and messengers for his message he didn’t chose the brightest, the bestest and the beautifullest!

He bypassed people who thought  they were wisest and wonderfullest; the kings and religious experts, powerful politicians and everyone who was so impressed with themselves. He called peasants, prostitutes and fishermen, tax collectors and so on – clay pots – who knew they were empty – to be filled with him and go for him and do what he wanted to do and what he would do if he was there, because where they went, HE IS!

‘I will let my words be few…’

Read Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

Some of us love silence. Others can’t wait to fill it with something.
which are you?!

Kris shared a time when he went to the beach to get really quiet, but there was no way he could get quiet inside. Even when we are in silence- do we wait ‘long enough to hear the silence itself.’

Mother Teresa: ‘God is the friend of silence.’
Are you? How do you get on with silence? Do you see it as a friend?
Have a time of silence… Then discuss!

God said to Kris: ‘Your worship is one style – you come to me with lots of words.’
This passage tells us, there is a time for silence. How do we make time for silence in busy lives?

Kris then showed us a video clip from The Blue Planet- about a Blue Whale. Watch something like that, (link below) then put your hand over your mouth, and silently stand in awe of your God!

http://m.youtube.com:80/?client=mv-vf-uk#/watch?xl=xl_blazer&v=1fzT6ifrhL8

We then sat in silence for a loooong time.

And later – after the some people shared a word of encouragement,

…eventually!

Don’t be rash with your words. Don’t be too hasty to speak.

Prayer point:
We are going on a six week journey to hear God at Gorton monastery. It is an awe inspiring place. Kris talked about when he went & visited & sensed that in that different place, in a different way, God will speak to us about our future. Discuss how you feel about this as a group- how will you get there? Encourage each other.

Please be there, every week you can, give a lift if you can, let’s be there as a community as we get to listen to God. In the meantime, pray hard about it – and let your words be few.

Suggestion for this week: let’s practice the silent treatment for the first few minutes of the day, and listen to God before we even speak to him or anyone else.

He is ‘the one we must fear.’ Revere him, he is awesome, so be inspired, and he is singing a song over your life – but how will we know what He is singing, if we don’t get silent & listen.

That’s why I always feel unqualified to comment on Jesus’ farming metaphors, even though I’ve lived in rural areas, none of that green thumbedness ever rubbed off. In fact I like to keep my thumbs clean. But I don’t think Jesus was trying to teach us to be good gardeners or organic farmers. He wanted us to check our hearts, not our sheds. You know this story I’m sure:

“What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams. Are you listening to this? Really listening?

The question is, What kind of soil are you? The seed’s always good, it’ll do its work, but what really matters is where it lands.

Let’s look at some soils…soil tests measure fertility

1)      HARD – unreceptive. The seed is wasted, but the farmer is generous enough to be thought wasteful. Some people are hard soil. It seems  they give no attention to the gospel at all.  They don’t even hear what they’re told about God. resistant, they want nothing to do with God and his kingdom. I’ve met some people who seem like hard soil, but percentage wise it’s very few actually. Sometimes people who seem like hard soil are just trying to pretend. Like Saul did, he even persecuted Christians – no Christians were going to get near enough to put any seeds his way – but when Jesus sovereignly revealed himself in a vision he said, “It’s hard FOR YOU to kick against the goads.” Something was going on inside this toughest of hard cases all along, and God knew that… he can work with hard soil.

2)      SHALLOW – there are people who seem to get the message at first, it makes them happy. But they just added ‘God loves me’ on top of their lives rather than letting the reality of a relationship with the Supreme One change anything deeper inside. Because there is no real depth (no real repentance?), there’s no true commitment – the soil is shallow. Maybe they were not told to count the cost, and when the heat of persecution comes, or even when the troubles of an ordinary life in a fallen world continue, they respond by shrinking back.  Blaming God even. they though the gospel was just a comfort blanket they needed – something to make life feel better for a while). They give up on the choice they seemed to have made – like someone joining the gym at new year, and go looking for a different kind of hope to make life easier for a while.

3)      THORNY. Agriculturalists measure the soil for ‘contaminants.’ I’ve been excited to meet people who quickly receives good news when it’s preached, maybe at a hard time of their lives when drowning in despair they reach out to grab salvation’s passing lifeline – but they’re more interested in getting on a luxury liner than manning a lifeboat to help others out. Jesus talks about the riches of this world, and the worries that accompany such things. You can’t have one without the other. Weeds of worry  and desire for finer things in this life choke out what the seed was trying to produce. Striving for more of what will end up as somebody else’s antiques or junk ensures that no lasting fruit is borne.  The commitment is to a life of comfort more than a life of service – saying and singing all the right things about Jesus, but in the end it’s their own desires that rule their lives.

4)      GOOD SOIL – is productive! You can’t tell by looking at ‘soil’ what it will end up like. thats’ why teh seed goes everywhere. But eventually you can tell because good soil will produce fruit. And Jesus is optimistic about that soil – he says it’ll produce thirty, sixty or onehundrefold! All that potential placed in the seed, just waiting for the right soil.

So, perhaps a quarter of people have no interest. Half of those who seem to accept the message fizzle out and bear no fruit. Pretty depressing statistics!

Churches often try to appeal to the bad soil and keep them happy, trying to tell them that following Jesus really requires little effort or sacrifice – just come once a week if you’re not too busy and have fun. Be passive not active, we don’t expect fruit, just sit there like good soil…

How often do we hear the common complaint that twenty percent of the people do eighty per cent of the work, give eighty per cent of money the money and so on. Re-read this parable and you know why! It wouldn’t surprise Jesus.  There’s a lot of bad soil around.  Consumer Christians, educated beyond the level of obedience.

How much of a Christian does your church require you to be?

We’ve not done well with this. Don’t a lot of our programmes and so on say, ‘You can be totally uncommitted to the cause of Jesus and his kingdom, distracted by focusing on the accumulation of stuff, and we’d still love you to be a member here?”

Who’s responsible for bearing fruit? YOU ARE.

You’re accountable. Are you good soil or bad soil? I don’t know, but time will tell – and eternity will keep on telling. Life is like a coin; you can spend it any way you like, but you only spend it once.

Most of us would be very pleased with a 10% Return on Investment. 20% is great! Jesus says if you’re good soil you will bear fruit at either 3000%, 6000% or 10,000%. That’s a lot of fruit! He says, “Abide in me and produce much fruit.”  This is an enterprise worth investing in! I want to invest myself in people who want to bear fruit!

Jesus never forced himself on the disinterested. He never altered his call or message to suit the hearer.  Read the account of the rich young ruler in Mark 10:  This guy would fit the bill for the ideal church member! And Jesus loved him, but didn’t chase him.

Manchester is his adopted city, he is a missionary to Manchester! Sept 27th his ‘this little light’ song will be released.

The government are right behind it: ‘Shine’ campaign = film young people doing something good. Put it on the website.
Momentum is building!

He has been doing evangelism full time for ten years. Employed by Luis Palau festival to preach to their youth, some massive crowds.

But the tough stuff is When you go onto a classroom etc with his work through the Message – there are walls to be broken down

Mk 1;17

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.

Ever been fishing!? Hard work! Chucking out the net is dirty work, and you need some skills, but ordinary people can do it.

When he did a sports science degree – he learned a definition of SKILL.

Skill is a learned ability to bring about a predetermined result with maximum certainty often with minimal outlay of time, energy or both.

So: do your work:,be prepared in advance! To be relevant to who you’re reaching.

Know your audience, be all things to all people to save some. What’s going to work best for this person?

Know your testimony. Be ready!

Break down a barrier!
Eg., body language. We communicate a massive amount non verbally.
Hand gestures: do you tend to point (aggressive) or use open hands?
If people are closed arms & legs, you need to change them from being closed.
Eye contact – use a visual sweep.

Don’t shuffle about in an uncertain way: the gospel is something you can stand on.
Stand confident in your faith.
In schools you learn at the sharp end. Any questions time!? That’s tough apologetics.
God has said to him, if you fail 7 times, get up 8 times!

When Lindz was in new York, ended up he ‘just happened’ to meet Chris Moyles. It took till 2am till the conversation turned to God. If Chris Moyles comes to Manchester, he will visit Ivy!

And it happened because the conversation turned to the opportunity.

Are you willing to be interrupted? Like Jesus was with Zaccheaus.

His main text was Ruth 1.21 I went out full, I came back empty. The title was RHYTHMS OF CHANGE.
Here are my notes on what he shared ; great stuff – and see the end for an important prophetic word from Arnold.

A man he knew came from Africa, when he was at home he could smell gas, but he got used to it. It took another guy coming in to be able to alert him. When you are cooking, you may not smell how good it is: needs a stranger to come from outside to smell it.
Arnold brings an outsider’s perspective!

There are three main actors in Ruth. It’s a great story.

BOAZ - A type of Christ. His character was integral. Dependable. He is faithful, rich (psalm 24), able to help, our provider. We must learn to trust him. He gives us everything. He will always turn up. We can be confident in him. He operates according to covenant. Our salvation is based on covenant.

NAOMI - a type of Israel. Goes away from God for what she wants. But God brings her back! She goes away from God because of her insecurities. To get her needs met. Ends up where she is not to be. Goes through the wrong doors. The wrong door can take 5 mins to open, & 10 years to close. Naomi is a type of israel. She left a place where she was actually full. We forget how blessed we are. Vs 21. Thank God for life, for salvation. The grace of God which keeps you.

RUTH is a type of the church. A Moabitess. A nation founded from & conceived from terrible immorality, considered cursed to the 10th generation. A rejected bloodline! Now we find ourselves on a place where we were never meant to be. There is grace. There is nobody God cannot save!

Ruth is a book of encouragement, of survival, through all the pain; they bounce back, by the grace of God. The devil takes hold of us in times of trouble. The devil tells you, ‘you are not loved by God, but if you follow my way, I will help you.’

But pain is not always negative : it can keep people together. We think pain separates; These three women, all they had in common was their pain & struggle, it was their only story-  at the beginning. Loss. Bereavement. Whatever you go through – God still loves you! Through their pain, they stuck together. Not all pain leads to death; it can lead to redemption! We can learn through our need, to seek until we find.

God may not say what we want, instead he says, ‘Be strong! Circumstances have no anointing to change the call on your life.’

One day, Naomi woke up and said, ‘I am going back to Israel – leave me alone.’ She realised there was something shifting, she was going! In Gods timing. We have created an intellectual God. But our God is a miracle worker!

People who are moving Gods way are not necessarily bothered whether everyone else comes with them. Its not about getting a vote. They say, ‘It’s my time now to step into what the Lord is leading me into.’ We may be misunderstood when we do that, even by the ones closest to us. Cf Hannah & the priest. Rom 8:25

Orpah kissed her and decided to go her way. That’s okay. She doesnt get condemned for that. She gets a blessing. We have to be big enough to do that; If someone chooses to go, that’s okay. They are out of your story, their contribution to it has ended – but God is still writing it! He is writing it in colour. We can become bitter that someone walked out, or we can look who’s coming in!

Naomi says; “Your God will be my God.” The commitment is what God uses, to use us. Ruth makes a commitment. There are people you meet, a community, who are different, but your prophetic destiny is mapped with the people next to you in church. You are not just here because its a good church. My breakthrough is in how I connect. Plug in!

Ask God, ‘How am I to play my part in the story?’

What made Naomi want to go? She recognised Gods timing; recognising what God is doing in my life, church, family. Ask God today, ‘What are you doing?’ and join him in that.

Is there a shift, a shaking inside you? God is going to give you a kick in your pants. You have been dormant long enough! God can use you!

Ruth, who was supposed to be rejected, ends up in Jesus lineage/ story. At the end of their life, they look back and see His hand was at work. But we must take a step!

Arnold closed his talk in the second service with a prophetic word for Ivy Manchester which he said he has had for two years for us:

“You have been talking for a long time about getting a large building and praying about getting a larger building – this is no longer a matter of prayer, but a matter of FAITH! Believe God for this!”

I was particularly grabbed by the third way. It’s all about someone seeing ‘worthless junk’ and reimagining it – better. Follow the link to Matt Brown’s own page and he tells us how he saw these old plastic horses in a junk store bargain bucket, repackaged and rebranded them  as “Night Horses” – like, ‘Nugget the life liver,” and “Sotirius, the silent Duke.”

I love it! It’s just like what God does with us! This designer says he gives the objects a story of significance again. It’s part of a project called Significant Objects.

We might feel worthless, neglected, useless or left out. But the Bible says to Christ followers that we should “think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are...”

It’s not our strengths, our cleverness, our influence or power that qualify us to speak for Him or stand for Him. But God reaches into the rubbish bins and bargain buckets of the world, to people otherwise without hope and without God in the world – who need a new story to be told.

He gives them a new name, he calls us ‘Son.’ ‘Daughter.’

He calls you ‘Glorious beloved, lovely and loved, useful and trustworthy and precious in my sight.’

And we ARE what He calls us.

He was converted as a child, while living in Cyprus. Knew he would have to give up everything for Christ. He loved the Bible immediately. They asked at the first Bibel study, ‘If God could give you one thing what would you want?’

His reply: “I would want to be an evangelist.” Always knew that’s what he was called and appointed to.

But there can be a performance mentality, and being judged by numbers. Retreated from that – a turning point came when he was preaching in South Africa, and at a golf club a business man had arranged an evening meal. Hoping for 60 people to come – 137 came. There were more non Christians than Christians. Afrikaans high class business types. Someone came up to him and told him the meeting was a mistake, they would not be receptive.

And that experience happened when there was complete silence to all his points, and his heart was sinking! Cold sweat! But then at the end he gave an invitation. Then cards were offered for a response.

A to E. Grade it – A = one of the best sermons you have ever heard

E = the worst. Uh-oh!

Then there were various responses. From ‘I became a Christian.’ To ‘Never invite me to an event again.’

Afterwards he was wrecked. Couldn’t sleep.

730am next day the organiser rang. He dreaded answering the phone!

46 people ticked box A – ‘I gave my life to Jesus.’

48 people ticked box B – ‘I want to go to the Bible study.’

4 ticked box E.

Weeks on, loads from box B became Christians. 2 from box E did too.

Resolved therefore… to always give people the opportunity, no matter how I feel. My feelings are not a strong basis to operate this ministry from!

It’s about trust. Trusting God.

But many Christians are not sure if they can morally trust God.

Non Christians like Dawkins would say our God is morally abhorrent. (The cross is abusive).

If you can’t know God is trustworthy – you can’t trust him.

Cf Jonah. The whole city was saved. Remarkable, you’d think that was encouraging? Mass salvation of an enemy nation. How does the preacher feel?

Chapter 4:1 – it displeased Jonah greatly – (literally gut wrenchingly exceedingly upset) and he was angry.

I sometimes get displeased that revival doesn’t come. Here it’s the other way round! Jonah hated the people he was preaching to, and he knew God was gracious and compassionate – the kind of God he was, is Jonah’s problem.

We can get angry and upset when we see people forgiven and restored. So, here’s the issue. We sometimes seem as if God’s schizophrenic: On one side loving and nice, or there’s fierce wrath.

We need to not set them in opposition to each other, but see them in the light of each other.

In Pride and Prejudice there is a scene where Mr Darcy says he loves her against his will, his better judgement and his character. (Unsurprisingly she rejects him!)

If there are some people who know you (everything- the real thing), YET they love you – those are the most valuable relationships. To be known warts and all – and loved.

True love does not exist in the absence of judgement – but in the presence of it – like in a marriage where as you get to know each other and in the face of flaws etc you healthily grow in depth, where there is love in the face of knowing you, when spoken by someone knows you.

God really knows you. Do you have emotional stability that comes from knowing that God loves you despite your flaws? (Doesn’t mean God is happy with them or that we should excuse them). He knows it.

God is not interested in covering things up. That’s not the path to true relationship.

Like when you say something stupid to a friend. Next day you go to them and apologise.

It’s great when they forgive you.

But if they say, “It’s nothing” – and walk away, and you know – it’s something! And now there is something between you. It’s not the same.

OR – we try to make up for it. We make a fuss. We serve in some way to earn the forgiveness rather than look at the problem. We no longer have real relationship. Covering up wrongdoing (in that sense) becomes a barrier to relationship.

The word Compassion – comes from ecclesiastical Latin. Means ‘With Passion.’ To make a moral judgement and be moved from the depth of your being to do something about it. You have compassion when you say, “That’s wrong – we have to DO something!”

God is a compassionate God, because he looks at the sin of the world and he is moved to step in, to go to a cross – not to cover our sins but to justify us by publicly dealing with it by God – who then seeks us out and offers us, as a gift, and then gives to us – salvation.

The message is nothing other than that while we were still sinners, he found us! He had already paid the price, he has moved! He knows exactly what we are like, and what was required. And he’s with us.

We hear the phrase, “God loves you” so much, it becomes meaningless.

God loves you because he knows who you are. He is not deluded.

So…

I don’t have to pretend to be what I’m not, with God. He already knows! It’s not helpful for God for me to be transparent with him. It’s good for me.

It also gives me transparency with others. I know I have been forgiven – because he forgave me.

There is only one basis for me to be forgiven:

If I have done wrong to someone – I should not be able to say ‘I’m forgiven’ – except and unless the other party is willing to forgive, and offers it – and through repentance I have received that forgiveness.

If that’s the case, it is not arrogant for me to say, “I am forgiven.”

We are dependent on him, his promise. God has said it! It’s dealt with. So I can be secure, whatever other insecurities I might wrestle with.

Are you totally assured as to the character of God? Are you utterly sure of him?

Are you utterly sure he really means his words of love and assurance? That he has chosen, called and loved you? That’s the reality!

Are you prepared to fail on that basis?

The basis on which I know I can fail, is that I know it’s not about me. I do and can blow it. When preaching, it’s not about how many respond etc. I am okay of others reject me on the basis that God has accepted me.

We need confidence – to trust the God who transforms lives.

In all other worldviews God can be merciful, by passing over his justice. For us, it’s not at the expense of his justice, BOTH operate together.

He then gave a few examples from some difficult places and situations he has visited. Do you REALLY believe God can reach everyone? He’s still in that business. He can change anyone.

He shared a platform with Prof John Woodbridge. He was talking about the history of revival. Challenging seminars, kept on asking, “Do you believe God could do this today?” That in very secular and sceptical places, where there is no evidence that God’s moving right now – revival can happen!

1 Samuel 16 ¹ The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” ² But Samuel said, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me.”
The LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ ³ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”  ⁴ Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?”  ⁵ Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.”  ⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” ⁹ Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the LORD chosen this one.” ¹⁰ Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The LORD has not chosen these.” ¹¹ So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered, “but he is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down ^[a] until he arrives.” ¹² So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.”  ¹³ So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power.

In this first verse we see three classes of persons – Saul (yesterdays man). Today we look at Samuel – a type of today’s man – Samuel – and he anoints tomorrows man.

To get to the place where its easy (the anointing) there is a cost. To be today’s man or woman you have to go outside your comfort zone. God wants to see how much he loves you, so he takes you to a place where you could be embarrassed or misunderstood.

The place that’s outside your comfort zone then becomes your new comfort zone. Then he calls you on again, and we wish it wasn’t that way, we think we paid our dues – but he always calls us on.

Samuel had been the man who none of his words fell to the ground, but God tells him to go and anoint the next king while the existing one is alive and well. Danger is required to have the anointing.  The willingness to bear the stigma.

Comes from a pure greek word – that Paul used, I bear in my body the stigmata – a tattoo burned into the body with a hot iron- on slaves, who’d run away, for stealing. Embrace the stigma – count it such an honour that you get to do it. You used to avoid it.

Cf when God said to Jonah – go to Ninevah. Jonah said, NO, and God said, “Really?” Then in the belly of the fish, Jonah prays that he may get to do what God wanted him to do!

The flesh always wants to destigmatise (that everyone will like it) the gospel.

1)   Do you know for sure, if you were to die today – you’d go to heaven?

2)   And if God were to ask you, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven, what would you say?’ Why would I ask those questions of a bunch of evangelists? He knew a woman who onteh 4^th class teaching Evangelism Explosion, became a Christian.

Suppose those questions were asked – what would you say?

What would you say, for Question 2?

If we looked through the lists – would we say?

I have tried to live a good, godly life. – LOST

I was brought up in a Christian home – you had a head start – LOST

Baptised? LOST.

I’ve kept the ten commandments – LIAR.

I’ve kept the beatitudes. You’re a bigger liar.

What would you write? The more words you wrote, the worst.

All that’s needed? JESUS DIED.

That’s your gospel. If you don’t preach it, you haven’t grasped it. If it comes out of you, it’s in you – out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

What was wrong with Lakeland? How many times did Todd Bentley preach the gospel? Not once.

Two vital words – EXPIATION & PROPITIATION.

Expiation = what the blood does for us.

Propitiation = what the blood does for God. Turns his wrath away from us.

The world is excited about words of knowledge etc., but we get to heaven by nothing else – our words may not help, they could hurt. It’s offensive to say its all about the cross and ONLY about the cross.

1801 – The Cane Ridge revival in Kentucky. The power of God fell, when a Methodist lay preacher stood on a tree stump. 15,000 gathered. He spoke on 2 Cor 5:10.

When he finished, 500 were on the floor as though dead. But six or seven hours later they came up shouting and hundreds of others fell.  Out of that came a certain way of preaching, breathless sounds, but 15 years after the preachers were putting it on, it wasn’t real any more.

We may like the liturgy, the worship style – it’s a comfort zone. We have to be willing to keep moving on. Even though we may not like it. We cann think the familiar, the nostalgic, is God.

When he was at Westminster Chapel – hundreds covenanted agreed to pray for the manifest Holy Spirit, and an openness in us to receive him, however he chooses to come.

Just after that was printed, he was talking with Lyndon Bowring and Charlie Colchester, who started to talk about, “This Toronto thing.” What?

‘They lay hands on people and they fall over, laughing!’

RT didn’t want it to be of God. Found the idea offensive. But he couldn’t stop thinking about it. A few days later Ken Costa invited him, ‘Come and speak with me about what the Bible says on about testing the Spirits’

RT came to warn, but when they talked, he was smitten- this is of God! And it means trouble.

Years before – he’d stepped out and nearly lost his job when he had Arthur Blessit speak. He thought, “I have paid my dues – Never again!” and God said, “Really?”

So he stood before his congregation and said, “This is of God, what’s happening at HTB.” And it was then a huge offense, now it’s fairly comfortable!

When Samuel entered the town the elders trembled. And Samuel’s probably trembling too. We should be trembling when we’re preaching!

We can get used to something that’s not right with us. We want it to stay like it is. Like when he lost a filling, but it didn’t hurt – and after a few days he loved sticking his tongue in the cavity.

The leaning tower of Pisa – they got architects in, and gave instructions – ‘Don’t correct the tilt, but keep it from falling.’

People don’t want their problems solved, they want them understood.

When Wesley saw George Whitefield going to preach in the fields, he was at first offended. Later he went to the field.

Later people barked like dogs and fell down. Wesley said, “A lot of that is not God. Stamp it out.”

Whitefield replied, “When you stamp out the false, you stamp out what is real too.”

Part of the stigma! We’d like revival to come in a tidy package, but it’s EMBARRASSING – yet you have to go with it and let them say what they will.

Samuel said, “Consecrate yourselves.”

Verse 6.

To be todays man – You have to be willing to change your mind.

When he saw Eliab, it was obvious –logical, the first born. But God said, No.

‘Do I have to admit I’m wrong – in front of all these people?’

There are people who have changed their position but they put something in print, so they won’t retract it.

The greatest freedom is having nothing to prove! Samuel said, “I got it wrong.”

Is it Abinadab? No

Is it Shammah? – Samuel’s feeling more embarrassed now! All seven gone! He must think his prophetic gift’s gone now.

But the last person anyone would have thought, was the one in God’s mind!

The one who wasn’t even invited to the great occasion. Not even told about it.

Ever missed church and everyone says, “You missed it!” (Thanks God!) You can feel left out, but God knows where you are and he will find you. God is never too late, or too early – he’s always just on time.

David had no preparation time, but he’s the one. The new King!

You may feel the most unlikely person. But that’s the way God works.

When RT met Rodney Howard Browne for the first time. Breakfast meeting. At the time he was persona non-grata at the time. But RT sensed something in him he’d never felt before, and asked, “I’d like you to come and pray in my pulpit, and pray for my wife (she’d had a cough for three years, nothing Drs could do, she couldn’t sleep! She was also seriously depressed.). She would not have gone to one of his meetings, but he came to pray for her in the morning. 5 minutes, mostly in tongues. And then – she was instantly healed of the cough! Later she went to one of his meetings, and the depression was gone.

He will put you in awkward situations. To take hou to where his anointing is.

Samuel had to break with the regime of which he was the central figure. He’d warned them they shouldn’t have a king, but they rejected his advice (God said, ‘It’s me they rejected – don’t take it personally). After God said that, he set off as if it was his idea in the first place.

But then he chose Saul, and when he fell – Samuel GRIEVED. He didn’t gloat! He didn’t say, “I told you so.” He was the only one who knew the truth about Saul.

On Ronald Reagan’s desk. “There is no limit to the person who doesn’t care who gets the credit.”

Being Tomorrow’s man involves loneliness.

RT had an experience when he was a young preacher. His grandmother had bought him a lovely car. He had a Damascus road experience. The glory of the Lord filled the car, and 2 verses came to mind, “Casting all your cares on me, because he cares on you.” And “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

And then Jesus is there, praying for him. Interceding for RT. And there was conversation he couldn’t hear. An hour later, he heard Jesus say, “He wants it!” The Father said, “He can have it”

And his body was flooded with warmth as the person of Jesus was then more real than any human.

Thinking everyone would be excited, but his father said, “You have broken with God!” and his grandmother took the car back.

He said to his Dad, “I’ll have an international ministry.” When? “One year from now!” In fact, for five years then he was door to door vacuum cleaner salesman.

You may feel that you’re tomorrows man. Waiting.

22 years later, he heard his dad say, “Son, I am proud of you – you were right and I was wrong.”

Consistency counts – but how do we achieve it?

On day 2 of the Daniel fast and a couple of people have been in touch to ask whether chocolate counts as a vegetable. Someone suggested a chocolate orange was okay! I have managed to lay off tea and just go with hot water instead – and I love my tea! But it feels great to say no to something good, to say yes to Someone better.

I noted yesterday how from being a young lad, Daniel had a great love for God, and as long as he stayed intimately close to God, Daniel was given the wisdom he needed to be  consistently wise. And it all comes down to our practices in the end. Your practices will make you, or break you.

Tiger Woods started when he was 18 months old and uses what he calls the “over-kill method” when practicing. And it’s not just any practice. He repeats perfect swings until he burns them into his mind and body. Then, even under the most intense tournament pressure, those swings hold up. That’s how consistency is built, one practice at a time. The secret of success is in your PRACTICES. What you do in practice, you’ll do under pressure. And I’m not just talking about sport am I?

We’ll look at some of the key practices Daniel kept up, that helped him be consistently wise.

1) Go for God.

Daniel didn’t always have it easy. But whatever he faced, Daniel always kept in mind the size of his God, not the size of the problem. At one point he stood before the emperor – the most powerful man in the world at the time – but because he was used to being in the presence of God, he wasn’t freaked about that. He said to the King, “My God holds your breath in his hands, and owns all your ways…”

His friends were just the same. When the king wanted to make them bow down like everyone else in Chapter 3 they looked at the massive gold statue he’d made, and said, “Sorry your majesty, but our God’s a lot bigger than that.”

The Bible (Ps 110) says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” That doesn’t mean we have to be scared of God, if we know Him as Father. It means we have to have a right perspective. That God’s always Sovereign, in charge, all powerful, holy and good – he’s God – and we’re not.

I love Daniel 10. The young boy has become the old man by now, he has been praying and fasting – that’s his practice - and he’s seen visions of angels, but it’s like that’s not enough for him. Daniel starts off praying for understanding – he wants to understand the visions – not just have them, and he always wants to see and connect with God. it’s not clear whether he gets angels here or possibly a touch from the Lord of hosts…

one having the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me. And he said, “O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!”

When you pray, when you worship – do you go for GOD?! Surely we want to encounter GOD!? We don’t just want answers – we want the One who is the Answer. We want His face not just his hand. We don’t just pray to meditate and think things through ourselves . Of course we want understanding and revelation and strength and wisdom and answered prayer– but not for their own sake!

We want GOD! Daniel CONNECTED to GOD! God who is the source of revelation about what had happened to him, and what was happening to him, and what would happen.

Don’t just pray through a list – even a good and worthy list – go for God’s face!

Whatever you’re going through – practice this – keep the size and the love and the POWER of God in mind. Whoever rules the nations’ governments, in Babylon or Britain – God’s on his throne! And if he appeared here so we got just a GLIMPSE of his majesty and awesome glory, we’d be trembling too! But then he’d touch you, and tell you – “You are deeply loved!”

Do you have an abundance mentality or a scarcity mind-set?

The way the world is reported right now it’s easy to dig into a bunker ; focus on what we don’t have and what’s the worst that could happen. In Jesus’ famous parable of the talents, the one talent guy came to the Master with his report, saying,

‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground.”

His problem was in what he THOUGHT he knew about God. But he had that all wrong. The one talent guy had a bad attitude. He felt his master was out to exploit. In order not to be cheated, he stifled his own potential.

Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” (Another translation says, ‘Do not rely on what you THINK you know).

Dr. Stephen Covey has written that developing an abundance mentality, “…opens possibilities, alternatives, and creativity.”

Those who possess an abundance mentality can find contentment and options where others find competition and envy. People with a scarcity mind‐set resent the successes of others, even people who are on their own team (this happens a lot where it should happen least – between churches! Leadership guru Jim Collins once advised church leaders, ‘Your competition is NOT other churches, it’s anything else someone could be doing Sunday morning).

People with an abundance mentality know that a candle loses nothing from lighting another. When change happens – and it will till the day you die – do you look for what everyone gains or focus on what might be lost? There are forces in life that have been designed to limit us – to keep us where we are. But God’s desire for our lives is that we make constant progress. We were not designed to be contained or restricted. He wants us to be fruitful. He’s determined to bless the determined who persevere. This is evidenced in God’s first words to man in Genesis 1:28. It’s there in John 15:4, Jesus spoke about bearing much fruit.

Half full or half empty?

So today… check your mental dialogue. Do you see limitations or possibilities?

Do you focus on what you don’t have or what you do have?

Do you see problems as insurmountable obstacles or creativity challenges? Do you see the mountain or the One who can move them? Do see that even if there’s less, that doesn’t mean there’s none. Do you see that there’s enough to go round, as long as you don’t try to hold on too tight.

Go forth – and multiply!

PS – for a facinating link to how global microfinance genius Muhammed Yunus sees the global financial crisis creating opportunity to help the poor; see this link reporting on his recent speech at Davos.