When It Seems That Evil Is Winning

Rev Gideon Lee

Sometimes we look at the world around us and we think life is unfair. Our finances and our health, we seem to be less prosperous than the wicked. It's like we do right yet we are less well off when compared to the wicked. Sometimes when we look at all these things, we get discouraged. I am here to encourage you from the word of God. 

Psalms 73

BOOK III Psalms 73-89 Psalm 73 A psalm of Asaph. ​1 Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. 3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. 5 They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills. 6 Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. 7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits. 8 They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression. 9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth. 10 Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. 11 They say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?” 12 This is what the wicked are like– always carefree, they increase in wealth. 13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. 14 All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning. 15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed your children. 16 When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me 17 till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. 18 Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. 19 How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! 20 As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies. 21 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, 22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. 23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. 28 But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.

This passage started well but it then changed to a situation similar to what I mentioned. It looks hopeless and we are discouraged. It's as if God is blind to our situation. Has God taken a holiday? God where are you? When we look at our health or our finance. My colleague who bad stab and cheat, they get a promotion. What about me? 

Turn to your neighbour and said God has good news for you. Don't look so gloomy. Because the psalmist changes his tone from verses 18. He switches his tone. 

How does walking on slippery ground feels like? You fall and you find it hard to change direction. 

I used to run. Not for the school but for my school house. I'm Rumah Putih. I like to run bare footed. I felt I would be faster. How many of you played football without your shoes. I like it. On that day it drizzled and the ground was wet. I ran without my shoes and it was so hard. I had to concentrate to keep my balance. While my competitors has shoes with spikes. You could see they ran with ease. 

The psalmist says he put the wicked on slippery ground. No weapon formed against us will prosper. They are on slippery ground. 

How many of you remember the tsunami that hit Penang? It came suddenly without warning. It swept everything in its path. Things were destroyed. Ships were swept inland. It's like that with the wicked. They will be swept away without warning. 

What we are going through is a nightmare. We need to be prepared. We are seeing the signs. It may one day be illegal for us to come to church. Don't say persecution will not come. It's at our doorsteps. It's like a nightmare but all nightmares end when we wake up. This bad dream will cease when he arises. 

What we see today is not the final episode. You all watch Korean or Taiwanese dramas right? The wicked are really wicked but in the end the good guys win. At the last episode everything is made right and the good guys win. 

Anyone of you watched Transformers. I'm free Monday. Joking ya. Good endings. It's not the last episode. He will arise and everything will be made right. Never say you waste your life living righteously. 

What else did the psalmist learnt? From v23 to 26. 

God is with the psalmist and held his right hand and guide him with his counsel. How many of you know this is a song. Worship leaders? God is the strength of my heart. 

When we think God is not there, we got it wrong. God is there with you always. He didn't say sometimes or maybe he is with you but always. Whether it is your health, your finance or relationship, he is with you. When you have God you have everything. It makes a difference when you have him. 

The psalmist started in a negative way and it seems that God is not doing anything in his situation. But then he changes and say that God is with him always. God is the strength of my heart and portion forever. 

What caused the change? From being negative to positive. 

Psa 73:17 till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.

He spent time with God. He did not focus on his problems but he spent time with God. He put on his glasses of faith. That at the end of the day God will turn it for good. He came out of God's presence feeling victorious. Don't worry God is with us. We have to spend time in God's presence. Until we enter his sanctuary we will not see his outcome. 

On Wednesday our attendance has been increasing at our prayer meeting. And that is good. In your devotion are you spending time in God's presence. The people are coming consistently. If I did not spend time with God I will feel discouraged looking at the news around us. 

I bought Koay Kak. How much can you get Koay Kak? It used to be RM2.00. Another place RM2.20 with egg. Another place RM3.00 with duck egg. I bought at another place and I gave him RM3.00. I was waiting for my change, he looked at me and I looked at him. And he said boss, no more RM2.50. It's now RM3.00. 

Yesterday I went to school to get the report card for my child. As I went I heard a parent scolding her child. She said you embarrass me. You call yourself my children. That ticked me off. That child is only standard one or the most standard three. Our worth. God sees us differently and we can only see that in his presence. Spend time with God and you will come out different. He is your portion and strength. 

We will see the final destiny of our church as we spend time with him. Let's spend time in God's presence and we will see the right picture. 

Stop Being Afraid

Rev Gideon Lee

This morning I'll keep my message short as I want to take some time to minister to you. I want to open the altar so that I can pray for you.

God is in the business of multiplication. Whatever we do for God will not go to waste. Come to our prayer meeting, our cell meetings. Your attendance is important. You may say I am only one person, but you are important. And I must say this, don't miss church for your hobbies. In my previous church, I had people who miss church because they went to marathon. Some would travel long distances for the Penang Bridge Run held early in the morning. I think we should make effort to be in the house of God. 

The title of my message is "Stop Being Afraid". 

In the beginning of this passage, Jesus was commissioning the disciples. And here Jesus was warning them that they will face opposition and some of them may even loose their life. 

Mat 10:24-31

24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! 26 Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Jesus Teaches the Fear of God 27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

In football or elsewhere they call soccer, in the changing room before they go out to the field, they will be given a pep talk by the coach to motivate them and to tell them their game plan. The coach prepares his team and this is what Jesus was doing. Jesus was telling them what to expect. That there will be opposition and obstacles. 

And Jesus said the student is not greater than the teacher. And that if they can talk bad about the master, they will do worst towards the followers. 

What did Jesus faced? Rejection. False accusation. Persecution. Beaten. Chased out of town. No place to sleep. Jesus was saying it will also happen to them. 

Can you imagine if I say that to you. You will go through persecution if you come to church. Will you still come to church? 

What did Jesus say? So do not be afraid of them. Is it a one occasion thing or an ongoing thing? It is do not be afraid of them continually. In every situation that you will face. 

Jesus is saying don't be afraid of what these people can do to you. Stop being afraid of those who can kill the body but rather be afraid of he that can destroy the soul. 

And Jesus further said that you are more precious than sparrows. He gave them a promise. How many of you know what's a sparrow? It's a small bird that's hardly worth anything. And God is saying he is concerned even for sparrows. And we are more precious than many sparrows. 

And the bible even says that he knows the number of hairs you have. Do you know what's the number of hairs you have? Some have more, some have less. Do you know the number of hairs on your spouse?

I want to talk about promise. Promises is at best conditional. I promise to come to church if there is no traffic or the weather is fine. I'm giving an example. I promise to be on time. I'm on the way. It's like if we say promise we have to keep it and if we don't promise we don't have to keep it. 

The ultimate is when death come into the picture. Especially like when we make our wedding vows. Till death do us part. 

The nature of the promise is also dependent in the person. The character and the reliability of the person. 

And most of the time we do break our promises. And it comes to our mind if a person can keep his promise or not. How many of us have been disappointed by broken promises.  

But all these do not apply to Jesus  because when he makes a promise he keeps it. When they saw Jesus on the cross they thought he can no longer keep his promise. But we know Jesus rose from the dead and his promise is yay and amen. Even death the greatest promise breaker could not hold him. 

When someone promise us something, we often is conditioned to think what must I do to receive, to get the promise. When Jesus promised us, there is nothing we can do to earn that promise. 

If our grandparents tell us that they have put in their will a bungalow for us and a piece of land in a prime area in Penang, do we ask what we need to do to earn that inheritance? We do not. We just say thank you. 

And that's what we need to say to God, to thank him for all the promises from God. This morning, don't try to earn your healing. Don't try to earn your salvation. 

He first love us. Do you know how many promises are there in the bible for us? Do you know there are promises for every area of our life? But if you don't know the promises how do you earn it?

Don't worry. You are worth more than sparrows. He will take care of you. This morning what are you facing in your life? May I tell you the promises of God. He is our Jehovah Rapha. He is our healer, he is everything that we need. 

This morning I encourage you to know the promises of God. Even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death you will fear no evil. He provides for every aspect of your life. 

Let me share a testimony with you. I am used to trusting God with big things. One day God reminded me that although I can trust him for big things, I needed to be reminded that he cares and is interested in every area of my life. 

We took a short break in Cameron Highlands with my family. My brothers came from KL and they went to Ipoh first. They asked me if I wanted to join them in Ipoh, but since I am going up via Simpang Pulai, I said I'll meet them up there. 

So my brother asked if I wanted salted chicken. Before I could reply my wife replied and said no need. But in my heart I said aiyoh! I wanted to eat. I didn't tell anyone. You know me. 

But when we came back to church, someone called me and said I want to buy salted chicken for you. I said okay, buy one for me and I wanted to pay for it. When the person met me, I got two! And I wanted to pay but they wanted to bless me. So God reminded me to just say thank you. 

So I went home and told my wife, see, God knew I wanted to eat this when we were in Camerons. And my wife said but you just ate a few weeks back. But God knew I wanted it. Little things shows God cares for you even though I was used to expecting big things from God. 

Don't try to earn God's promises. Come to him. He knows and he cares. And not only he cares, he has the capability and the resources to help you. 

A Father's Heart

Bro Koay Kheng Hin

Happy Father's Day. Today I feel happy to be here at the pulpit. I prepared a Father's Day message yesterday for a service at PPC and I realized out of the 40 to 50 that attended only about 5 men were there. I told them, ladies more godly ya, since most churches I go to have more ladies. 

I have titled today's message "A father's heart". My passage is from Deuteronomy. 

Deuteronomy 1:29-31

“Then I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, or afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.’

Here in verse 31, it says the Lord carried them as a father carries his son. I want to put to you that when Moses wrote this he is comparing God's heart for the Israelites to a father's heart. It just shows how important God sees fatherhood. And in it we see how intimate a father is. 

I want to look at fathers and how it is an important role. I will look at three prophets, who were imperfect fathers. It just says we try but we are not perfect but there is only one perfect father and that is God. 

But in all of it, even though we are imperfect fathers, God has planted in all fathers a father's heart. 

1. Eli

1 Samuel 2:22-25

Prophecy Against Eli's Household

22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. 24 No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord's people transgress. 25 If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them.

Why was Eli so concerned? Their sons were all old already and Eli was close to 80 or 90. The two sons will do all sort of things. They did not respect the Lord and just took the meats they wanted. And they slept with women and prostitutes. Eli must have been heartbroken. 

The sons did not listen to the father's rebuke. You will find here the Lord looks at both Eli and his sons. God was very unhappy with Eli and his two sons. The 4 chapters here show us a picture of Eli. You see him as a priest, his calling and vocation. As a father that was his privilege. Eli was weak as a father. Someway along the line, the children became very indisciplined. 

Before we judge Eli, we sometimes as father do not know how to handle our children when they do wrong too. We did not learn to discipline them. When they grow up and you want to discipline them, it is not so easy anymore. 

We can see Eli's weakness was that he was not a strong father. There was one more thing. Even though Eli spoke to his sons, God was not happy. Because even the sons were doing wrong, Eli had the authority but did not remove them from their priestly duty. 

When our children do wrong, we tell them to not do it but after a while we resign to their indiscipline. Eli had the authority in office to remove them but he did not. That was why God say he did not honour God. 

The Israelites went to war with the Philistines. They took the ark thinking that the Lord would fight for them. 

1 Samuel 4:17-18

So the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God has been captured.”

18 Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

I was wondering what was on Eli's mind when the messenger came. He knew they had lost the battle. First blow. Second news, his children is dead. Second blow. And the third news that broke the camel's back, the Ark was captured. As a priest he understood the ark was supposed to be with the Israelites. Eli must have felt such a failure when the ark was taken. That was Eli the priest. But for Eli as a father, the news of his two son's death was also too much a blow for an old man. 

Eli saw his sons growing up, he may not have disciplined them and they obeyed him not. And when they died at such young age, it must have broken a father's heart. There was no record of rebuke in the bible. Eli has a father's heart but it was a painful heart. 

Some years ago I had a dialogue with a parent. The daughter wanted a divorce.  It was not adultery. There was no third party. The daughter just said not compatible. The father was very angry. The daughter was adamant. The father told me the daughter cannot listen. I told the father it is our job and responsibility to tell them when they are wrong. We must know there will have consequences if they go the wrong way. But I told him if they do not, a father's heart is still a father's heart. At the end we will feel for our children. When she has no husband to turn to, the father and mother has to be there. 

For children when fathers do not approve of what you do, it is for your good but they will always have a father's heart for you. Eli went too far and condone what the sons did by not stopping them. 

Eli as a father had a painful heart. 

2. David

2Sa 18:5

5 And the king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom.

2 Samuel 18:19-33

David Hears of Absalom's Death

19 Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run now and take the news to the king, how the Lord has avenged him of his enemies.”

20 And Joab said to him, “You shall not take the news this day, for you shall take the news another day. But today you shall take no news, because the king's son is dead.” 21 Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” So the Cushite bowed himself to Joab and ran.

22 And Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, “But whatever happens, please let me also run after the Cushite.”

So Joab said, “Why will you run, my son, since you have no news ready?”

23 “But whatever happens,” he said, “let me run.”

So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain, and outran the Cushite.

24 Now David was sitting between the two gates. And the watchman went up to the roof over the gate, to the wall, lifted his eyes and looked, and there was a man, running alone. 25 Then the watchman cried out and told the king. And the king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.” And he came rapidly and drew near.

26 Then the watchman saw another man running, and the watchman called to the gatekeeper and said, “There is another man, running alone!”

And the king said, “He also brings news.”

27 So the watchman said, “I think the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.”

And the king said, “He is a good man, and comes with good news.”

28 So Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, “All is well!” Then he bowed down with his face to the earth before the king, and said, “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king!”

29 The king said, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”

Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king's servant and me your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I did not know what it was about.”

30 And the king said, “Turn aside and stand here.” So he turned aside and stood still.

31 Just then the Cushite came, and the Cushite said, “There is good news, my lord the king! For the Lord has avenged you this day of all those who rose against you.”

32 And the king said to the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”

So the Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise against you to do harm, be like that young man!”

David's Mourning for Absalom

33 Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus:“O my son Absalom—my son, my son Absalom—if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!”

Absalom pursued David and wanted David dead. The son pursued David to take the father's life. But David and his mighty men managed to build his army. It was painful for David that his sons whom he nurtured when young is pursuing to take his life. He told his commanders, take care of my son Absalom. David never forgot his son. David's army won but his mule got caught under the oak and Joab heard of it and he plunged three javelin into his heart. 

The news went to David and let's see his reaction. David had two roles, a king and also a father. Between the kingdom and his fatherhood we see where his heart was. 

The second messenger came and the king asked again. Is the young man Absalom saved? The bible records clearly, the king was shaken by the news of his son's death. His kingdom and his life was at stake but he was more concerned about his son. 

Hearing of his son's death he went up to the tower and wept. 

Throughout history you will hear of sons usurping their father's throne. Many will just banish their son but often the son will come back with an army to take over his throne and life. From China to Europe, you see how a father's heart is. 

In David's case, he had a protective heart. 

3. Jacob

Genesis 37:2-4

This is the history of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

What was Jacob's weakness. In verse 2, you see Jacob had wives, he had four women. In a family like that there will be problems. When you have four women and many children, it's a recipe for disaster. 

Jacob had a show of favoritism that is very obvious. My mom always say I have no favorites. But my brothers will always say mom loves you more. Sometimes in our heart, when you have a few children, you will find some that are agreeable with you while some less so. But we have to be fair and not be like Jacob where it's so obvious. 

The jealousy got the brothers to turn against Joseph. And it's not just because of the coat of many colours. 

Genesis 37:31-35

So they took Joseph's tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 32 Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son's tunic or not?”

33 And he recognized it and said, “ It is my son's tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

Here you can see how grieved Jacob was in hearing the news that Joseph died. 

Genesis 44:27-29

Then your servant my father said to us, “You know that my wife bore me two sons; 28 and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces”; and I have not seen him since. 29 But if you take this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave. ’

20 years later, this was what Jacob said. He loved Rachel and he remembered Joseph but he now love Benjamin and he said if Benjamin does he will die too. Jacob in this passage never forgot Joseph, a son who was torn to pieces. 

I want to bring a contemporary example. When we read newspapers, bad news is exciting news. I am guilty too. But when we read them we feel sad and bad. But after a week we forget. Why? It's not our child. We just see it as a tragic event. To the father it's a traumatic experience who will not forget. A father will always pine for his child and he will always remember. 

I want to look at all these 3 prophets and put it together. 

Eli was not a strong father. But Eli has a heart for his sons. He had a painful heart. So to children you must understand your wrongs cause pains to your father. 

David's Bathsheba incident affected his family. He was imperfect but he had a father's heart to protect his son. 

Jacob's weakness is too many wives and he practiced favoritism. But he ended well. He had his sons back but for 22 years he must have pined for his son Joseph. 

On a personal level I have my children late. Now many teachers are talking about retirement. Bro Hooi is retiring next year so I may end up in a school with only lady teachers. I may have to wear a skirt to school (laughs). 

I was physically ready to be a father. But emotionally I was not ready. When I finally became a father, I was ready. Today there are many who is physically able to be a father but is not mature enough. The perfect fatherhood is expressed in God our father. You will have a father's heart. As a father we have to learn to look to God our father whose love can flow through, a father's love. Don't look to your imperfection but look to the cross where a father's heart was perfectly demonstrated. 

Waking the Giant

Rev Gideon Lee

This morning is Pentecost Sunday so we want to talk about the fire of the Holy Spirit. I also want to thank you for praying for me and my family. We were away on a camp, with more than 400 attending. Over the week I preached at my old church, Glad Tidings in Klang. 

The title of my message is "Waking the Giant". How many of you know what is Pentecost? What is that event that we are celebrating? It's about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as recorded in the book of Acts. "Pentecost was a Jewish thing, long before it was a Christian thing. There were three great Jewish festivals to which every male Jew within twenty miles of Jerusalem was legally bound to come. Those three were Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles.

Pentecost literally means: "the fiftieth." Another name for Pentecost was: "Feast of Weeks." It was so-called because it fell on the fiftieth day after Passover ... a week's worth of weeks (seven days, times seven weeks, equals forty-nine days)

The feast had historical significance, in that it represented the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. And it had agricultural significance, in that it commemorated the first barley harvest."

The Pentecost historically is related to the time when the Ten Commandments was given to Moses and it is also the time of the first harvest of barley. During the time of Pentecost, what would you see? Imagine travelling back in time to the day of Pentecost. You'll see a lot of people coming back from everywhere. God used this time for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 

Acts 2:1-21

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God- fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked:“Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs–we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine. ’”

Peter Addresses the Crowd

14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd:“Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 “ ‘In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams.

18 Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy.

19 I will show wonders in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and billows of smoke.

20 The sun will be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

21 And everyone who calls

on the name of the Lord will be saved. ’

I want to talk to you about waking the giant. In the year 1811, Napoleon Bonaparte at the height of his reign, it was said that he gathered his generals, and they were looking at the map of the whole world. Then he paused for a moment and pointed to a section of the map and said we better leave this place alone because it is a sleeping giant. The nation that he pointed to was China. But today we know that China is wide awake. They are an economy of their own. They are trying to move away from the US dollar. China as an economic giant has woken up. As an army, they can rival any of the super powers. Religiously, China is also on the way to become a Christian nation. In 15 years, it is said they could have the biggest population of Christians. In fact they are sending missionaries to Europe and that is the birthplace of Christianity. If there is a sleeping giant that is waking, it is the church of God. 

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was such a powerful event but sad to say the church is sleeping. Maybe we are too complacent or we don't care about the church. I don't know. How many of you can agree with me that we have not reached our full potential. 

If I can ask of God to do it again, pour out the Holy Spirit on our church. We need to arise and shine. We need to up our game and we need to move. We need to wake up. 

Speaking in tongues is the language of God, we are speaking to God but it may be a language of some tribe in the jungle, I don't know. 

We will wake the giant when the church start with prayer. 

If you notice in Acts 2, they were in one accord and in prayer. Nothing happens without prayer. It begins and ends with prayer. 

I'm not even talking about corporate prayer but our prayer life. How is your prayer life? Do this self check yourself. Even as a pastor, I have to find time to pray. I hope prayer will be part and parcel of our life. It was a part of the early church. 

Acts 2:42

The Fellowship of the Believers

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Prayer was an integral part of the church and it should be so in our life too. In National Geographic, I saw these divers that went to look for abalone. They like fast moving water and where the water is clean. The diver will need to go down deep to fight the current and there are a lot of predators like sharks. They have to use a flat screwdriver and pry the abalone off the rock and put it in their netted bags. On the boat are generators that pump oxygen for them so they last longer than if using oxygen tanks. 

They have to be careful the propeller do not cut the oxygen lines and the lines must not be entangled or the oxygen is cut off. Our life should be like this. We are in the world but not of the world and the lifeline that we have is prayer. Everything begins with prayer. We need to wake up and start praying.

If you have family, set aside a time once a week to have a family altar. To spend some time in prayer. There will be a difference. Prayer will help us understanding what is happening around us better. Our church needs to pray more. 

Second, we will wake the giant when we as a church recapture our original purpose. 

Sometimes I feel that as a church we need to understand why we are here. Why are we here? Look at our objectives behind. We are released to do great exploits for the Lord. 

This morning, who are you? You are the son of a living God. Are you suffering from an identity crisis? If we are the son of a King, we should live like the son of a king. We are to be the salt and light. We have to wake up. Even in the cell, I told Sis Melinda in Christian education to focus on the Christian and witnessing. We are not a club. We say our hallelujahs and amens and that's it. We ask what the church can do for us and that's it. 

Last but not least, we will wake the giant when we begin to serve God with absolute passion. 

Are we serving God with absolute passion? Are we? 

Acts 17:6

But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.

Are we turning our world upside down or rather right side up? All of them suffered a martyr's death. Peter was crucified upside down. Thomas was sawn in half. Are we turning our world right side up?

I'll end with this. William Booth is the founder of the Salvation Army. He was saved in a chapel in Nottingham. It became a place of pilgrimage for those who wanted to see the origins of the Salvation Army. There was this Chaplin who went and wanted to pray in that chapel and he asked permission from the pastor. The pastor heard what this Chaplin was praying for. He heard him pray "Lord, do it again". We don't know what he meant at that time. This is what I would pray too today. Lord, do it again. I pray we will not be a sleeping church. Don't miss what God wants to do in our church. Let's spend more time in prayer. Let's understand what God wants to do though our church. One day it may be illegal for us to be Christians. I pray we will still serve him and give our life for him one day. I pray we will not be a sleeping church. 

I want to spend some time to pray for those of you who are not baptised in the Holy Spirit. It does not mean that those who are filled in the Holy Spirit is better than those who have not. The day you are saved you have the Spirit in you but I pray that the Lord will baptise you in the Holy Spirit to give you that empowerment. It's for every believer. This is a free gift from God. You cannot own it but you must desire for it. 

Pray for Israel

Rev Jeremiah Abel

I wanted to commend your tambourine dancers. Last Sunday I was in an Anglican Church and they wanted me to conduct a seminar. I said okay but maybe a year later. This was an Anglican Church but they are spirit filled and they worshipped the Lord. And they had flags throughout the service worshipping and praising. And they had dancers, all these in an Anglican Church. Praise the Lord. 

I am thankful I can be here and was wondering what to share. I just preached at the Hokkien service and I preached on communion and the blood of Jesus. One person that came was saved. I am not the type that peaches the same message for both service. And this man that was saved, the next thing he said was he wants his wife to be saved. He heard the message, received it with joy and he wanted his family to be saved. 

I was asking the Lord and it seems the nation of Israel seems to come up. The book that talked about the nation of Israel is Psalms 122. Specifically verse 6. 

Psalms 122

A song of ascents. Of David.

1 I rejoiced with those who said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

2 Our feet are standing

in your gates, O Jerusalem.

3 Jerusalem is built like a city

that is closely compacted together.

4 That is where the tribes go up,

the tribes of the Lord,

to praise the name of the Lord

according to the statute given to Israel.

5 There the thrones for judgment stand,

the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

“May those who love you be secure.

7 May there be peace within your walls

and security within your citadels.”

8 For the sake of my brothers and friends,

I will say, “Peace be within you.”

9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

I will seek your prosperity.

First and foremost the Lord desire that we always pray not only for Jerusalem but also for the nation of Israel. If you have not, you need to understand this as a child of God. 

There is a replacement theology where they say the church have replaced the nation of Israel. This is wrong. 

There is the nation of Israel, the gentiles and the church, also called the bride of Christ. These are the three groups of people. 

But as a church we have a role. The apostle Paul was the apostle for the Gentiles. But he also has a great burden for the nation of Israel. Read Romans chapter 9 and 11. If you look at Romans 9. 

Romans 9:1-2

God’s Sovereign Choice

1 I speak the truth in Christ–I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit– 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

Paul was feeling in anguish for the nation of Israel. We owe much to the nation of Israel. They were the ones that brought about the patriarch. The law was given to them. 

Romans 10:1

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.

We owe the nation of Israel so we need to be praying for Israel. That they may be saved. 

Romans 11:1-2

The Remnant of Israel

1 I ask then:Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah–how he appealed to God against Israel:

God is directing our attention to the nation of Israel. There are a number of people from the United Nations to the U.S. that says Jerusalem will become the capital of the Palestinians. But Israel is saying that Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel for 3,000 years. That's what the pope tried to do subtly. But the president of Israel would not have it. 

Romans 11:17-27

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this:You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God:sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

All Israel Will Be Saved

25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The deliverer will come from Zion;

he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.

27 And this is my covenant with them

when I take away their sins.”

We are wild olives. Say wild olive. We are now sharing. Say it again, sharing in the nourishing sap. How we need to be thankful to God. You do not support the root but the root supports you. We are just wild olive grafted and it's the root that supports us. We are called not to be proud. The apostle Paul preached like that. Some people don't like it. 

And God has power to graft them in again. Hear that? Until the full number has come in, that is the church, the bride of Christ. Take hold of this passage of scripture. We are living in a time where the coming of the Lord is coming and at the end of the church. The signs are there. 

How many of you have heard of the four blood moons. There are so many articles on YouTube. Go to John Hagee's teaching. He was the one who wrote on this. 

The four blood moons came to him because he was attending a conference and he was so concern about the nation of Israel. It was at the conference that one pastor talked to him about the stars. He had to take time to search in the computer and what struck him was this. It was NASA who studied the stars and found out about these blood moons. They found four blood moons happening between 2014 to 2015. 

There has been many blood moons but never four blood moons. 

The one that just passed was April 15. Some of my disciples in Canada wanted to see the blood moon and they saw it. And it was red and big. The next is Oct 8, 2014 and April 4, 2015 and September 28, 2015. All these fall during the Jewish festivals. 

Study the book of Leviticus 23rd chapter. You will read about the feast of the Passover. We celebrate the holy communion because it is significant because it's our salvation. There were 7 feasts. The first is the feast of the Passover and the last feast was the Tabernacle. It is to remind them that it was God that rescued them and provided for them. Then we as believers need to know we are just passing through. We are aliens. We do not belong to this world. Our home is heaven. 

Jesus said he has gone to prepare a place for you. Prepare a bungalow? Mansion! These festivals were to remind them that God saved them and that they were temporary residence and God is going to take them. 

One of the things I want you to understand is this. 500 years ago there were also four blood moons. When it happens it is bad omen for Israel. Yet God will protect them. The nation of Israel is the apple of his eye. 

The enemy has tried to destroy the nation of Israel. In 1492-93, the inquisition happened and brought about such persecution to the Israelites. That was the time Christopher Columbus has many Jewish sailors and many moved to America. Today America has the most number of the Jews and they are very rich. 

The next one was just before 1948, the holocaust. Many Jews were slaughtered but in 1948, God formed the nation of Israel. 6 to 7 Arab nations attacked them yet they were the ones that occupied the west banks. 

The next one was 1967, the six day war. All the Arab countries come together to annihilate the nation of Israel. They are still talking about it and in the six day war, Israel won the war but it seems it was God who protected and helped them win the war. And in that war they got back Jerusalem. 

These four blood moons is something I am excited about. I was amazed at the truths that was in this particular book. The Lord wants us to understand and I have a few verses I want to share. God has given us signs on his soon return. 

Genesis 1:14

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,

When he brought about creation, God has already said they are signs. 

Joel 2:30-31

I will show wonders in the heavens

and on the earth,

blood and fire and billows of smoke.

31 The sun will be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

The moon will turn into blood. These are signs before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. This was in Acts chapter 2. 

Acts 2:19-20

I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and billows of smoke.

20 The sun will be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

Jesus is coming back again. How important it is for us. I am more excited about what Jesus says. 

Luke 21:25-28

“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

This is what I wanted you to understand. God has given us signs already. He is coming back very very soon. The coming of the Lord is imminent and we have to be in a state of preparedness. 

Right now, it was this particular year that we have experienced one of the worst climatic condition is the world. In many countries there were floods and earthquakes. It snowed in Jerusalem. Many is wondering what's going on. Yet the scriptures are so clear. We need not be afraid or be troubled about it because we know he is coming again. 

And my desire is that you will be in a state of preparedness. I want you to be caught up, to be raptured. In Thessalonians, the 5 chapters, you'll find there are references made on the coming of Jesus. And there are people who said I don't know. Paul said do not be ignorant. We are supposed to be knowledgeable. 

1 Corinthians 15:51

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed –

We will be changed in the twinkling of an eye. When the trumpet sound, we will be caught up. In the twinkling of an eye. The coming of the Lord is imminent. I didn't say that he is coming during the four blood moon. I didn't say that ya. 

As I close, just before this came up, I read a book on the late rabbi Kaduri, who was a man who has such reverence for God. He died at the age or 106 and he said Jesus is the messiah and he write in a piece of paper he told the people to open the paper one year after his death. When they opened that letter, he said when a prime minister Ariel Sharon dies, prepare yourself for the messiah to come. Ariel Sharon passed away at the beginning this year. And thousands of Jews are coming to the Lord. There are many churches mushrooming in Israel, known as messianic churches. Many are telling me many are accepting the Lord. 

If that is true, we better wake up. It is time. I pray that none of you will be left behind but will be prepared for the coming of the Lord.

Rev Jeremiah Abel preached at both the Hokkien and English service.