18th August 2024 Infill Service - A Good Neighbour

Right, yeah, fin mm hmm. Going to read first, yes,

m yeah, somewhere read all right. I mean that's not

a bit sor.

Mm hmm.

Okay. You get when you go visit a church, you

you get prepared in your head and as to how

things are going to go and mm hmm okay, mhm

mm hmmm. Technology you you you get it in your

head as to how things are gonna go and what

you're gonna do. And and this morning, as we started

to worship, God just impressed something really heavy on me

that I haven't felt for quite a long time. And

I want to say to you as a church, get ready.

It's like as if you've been in a dry time

and you've yeah, it's been dry, that there hasn't been

the flow that you wanted. When a tsunami happens, one

of the first things that you notice is that the

sea goes further out than it normally does. And the

sea has gone out with you further than it normally does.

But I want to say to you this morning, oh

my gosh, you get ready because that wave's coming at you.

It's coming. There is a wave of salvation that's coming

at you. You are going to see people get saved

for the first time in numbers that you have not

even dreamed about. But you're going to have to be ready.

And I say to the leadership theme team, think big,

do not do not kind of hedge in your thinking

and you're planning and think big. It's kind of that

American freight, you know, think big or go home. You've

got to think big because if you don't think big,

you won't be ready. And you're going to have to

take risks with people when that wave hits it. It

is gonna hit kind of thick and fast, and you're

gonna have to put things into place that at a

pace that you didn't think you were gonna have to,

and you will have to use great wisdom because you

will have to take risks with putting people in charge

of people because you won't be adding just one house group.

Oh my gosh, no, No, it's way way way outside

of that way outside.

So get ready, you know, as a church, get ready,

think big. Okay, don't let the enemy pull you in

and misguide you because of the dryness that you have

been working in. That that's all you're gonna ever gonna see.

Oh no, there is a wave coming at you. Oh

my goodness, I just prayed I just live long enough

to be able to hear about it or see it, because,

oh my goodness, MH.

Like I said, I didn't. It wasn't until we started

to worship that God just really impress that on my

heart for you. I am just about I am so

excited for you. Just now I could, though I've got

a sore leg, I could just about start jumping. Oh

my goodness. Well, as Dave said, we ah now at ten,

a church called Oceans imbued h H. And I bring

you greetings from Oceans this morning. Already I want a

text sent through to me as I got here the

morning from somebody in the church and they said, where

are you. Uh. It's always good, but you've got people

checking up on you. I've got good news and bad

news for you this morning. It's always awful when somebody

says that because you want the good news, you don't

want the bad news. Well, I'll give you the good

news first. God's Word is here this morning to encourage you.

And I just love encouraging people. I just you know,

I just love it. I love it when people come

around me and encourage me. But gods were this morning,

is also here to challenge you.

And it's one of the ways God uh has used

me over the years is that he has used me

to bring a challenge for him.

I want you to think back over the last six months.

I want you to think about all the sermons that

you have heard in the last six months. Are you

today more passionate for Jesus than you were six months ago?

Are you more passionate about seeing people say than you

were six months ago? Are you more active as a

Christian than you were six months ago? If not, why not?

We have heard the word of God for six months,

and if we are just the same as we were

six months ago, why have we listened to God's work.

God's work has got to change us, It has got

to motivate us. Really, I think I've changed a bit

in the last six months. We had some amazing teaching

in our church in the last six months. I am

less judgmental than I was six months ago because of

the word of God that has fed into me. And

I should encourage you every six months sit down with yourself,

because you know yourself better than anybody else does, and

ask yourself those questions. Am I more passionate for Jesus

than I was six months ago. Am I more passionate

about seeing people say than I was six months ago?

And am I more active as a Christian than I

was six months ago? Do yourself a spiritual health check,

because if we are not growing as Christians, we have

to ask why? What is it that is stopping us

from growing? We have to ask that question. I have

a a guy that is one of my kind of heroes,

spiritual heroes, a scoorlish man called Billy Bray and he lived.

Billy lived in the eighteen hundreds. He was a young

man in the early eighteen hundreds up until he was

about thirty. But Billy was drunkard. He drank away every

penny that he could lay his hands on, and when

he got drunk, he would tell dirty stories and he

was known for it. He was famous for it in

the time until one day he read a Christian book

and that book brought him under conviction, and a week later,

down in a tin mine, he fell on his knees

and asked Jesus into his life. And Billy got saved.

And boy did he get saved. It was totally transformational.

So and so that the first week after his salvation,

that he came home and put a bag of coll

inside the door and his wages on the table. His

wife wouldn't believe it, and she didn't for two months,

and when she did believe it, she recommitted her life

to the Lord because she was a back sliding Christian herself.

He was just, and I mean he was five foot nothing,

but he was just an indomnable character. And in the

later part of his ministry, he was then most probably

into his early sixties. He was one day in his

garden on his knees digging his potatoes, and it was

a really bad crop. He was struggling to find a

sound potato anywhere, and he said. The Devil creeped up

behind him and he said, Billie, do you think that

your father loves you? And Billy said, I replied, yeah,

I think he does. I don't think so, said the devil,

because if he did, he give you a good crop

of potatoes. Billy said, I wouldn't having that, he said.

I said, devil, you're a liar. And more to the point,

I served you for all those years, and all you

gave me was rags on my back. A wretched home

and an aching head, and no potatoes, and that fear

of hell fire to finish up with. He said, I've

been a servant of God for thirty years, and I

have a clean heart, a soul full of joy. My

family have never been without. And in the end he

will take me home to reign with him for eternity.

But he said, I look round, and he was nowhere

to be found, and he didn't even have the manners

to say good morning. Billy could stand up for his Jesus.

He may have been five foot nothing, but spiritually he

would stand up for Jesus. I know him that we

used to sing, and it's called stand up, stand up

for Jesus. Now. I thought that song was written for

the Salvation Army. I even thought that it might have

been written by the Salvation Army. But it wasn't. It

was written by a pastor in the Episcopal Church. And

don't try and say that with a mouthful of biscuit,

because you'll pepper everybody. It was written by a pastor

in the Episcopal Church who was in about eighteen fifty

was kicked out of that church group for preaching against slavery,

and twenty four to forty eight hours before he died,

he penned these words, stand up, stand up for Jesus. Ye,

soldiers of the Cross, lift high his royal banner. It

must not suffer loss from victory unto victory. This army

he shall lead till every foe is vanquished and Christ

is Lord. Indeed, stand up, stand up for Jesus. The

trumpet call away, pourth to the mighty conflict in this

his glorious day. Ye that are his now serve him

against unnumbered foes. Let courage rise with danger and strength

the strength oppose. Stand up, stand up for Jesus. Stand

in his strength alone. The arm of flesh will fail you.

You dare not trust your own. Put on the Gospel armor,

each peace, put on with prayer, where duty or danger be,

never wanting there, stand up, stand up for Jesus. The

strife will not be long this day, the noise of

battle the next. The victor's song to him that overcometh

a crown of life shall be he with the king

of glory, shall reign eternally. Billy knew how to stand

up for Jesus. If they've asked me for a title

for what I'm gonna share with you this morning, and

it's this. If you don't deal with the enemy, he

deals with you. I'm gonna ask Die to come and

read for us our reading this morning. If I've got

a long reading. I asked her to read it, because

she's much better at it than me.

This is the reading is from Two Kings, chapter nine,

verses one to twenty six, and then thirty to thirty seven.

The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company of

the prophets. Has said to him, tuck your cloak into

you about take this flask of olive oil with you,

and go to Ramath Giliad. When you get there, look

for Jehu. Sendat Jehosephat, the son of Dimshi. Go to him,

get him away from his companions, and take him into

an inner room. Then take the flask and pour the

oil on his head, and declare, this is what the

Lord says, I annoint you king over Israel. Then open

the door and run. Don't delay. So the young prophet

went to Ramath Gilead. When he arrived, he found the

army of officers sitting together. I have a message for you, commander,

he said, which of us, asked Jehu for you, commander,

he replied. Jehu got up and went into the house.

Then the prophet poured the oil on Jehu's head and declared,

this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says,

I anoint you king over the Lord's people Israel.

You are to destroy the house of.

Ahab, your master, and I will avenge the blood of

my servants, the prophets, and the blood of all the

Lord's servants shed by Jezebel.

The whole house of Ahab will perish.

I wur cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel,

slave or free. I will make the house of Ahab

like the house of Jereboam son of Nibat, and the

house of Bashah, son of a High As to Jezebel.

Dogs will devour her on the plotter ground at Jezreel,

and no one will bury her. Then he opened the

door and ran. When Jehu went out to his fellow officers,

wondered them asked him, is everything all right?

Why did this mainly act come to you?

You know, the man and the sort of things he says.

Jehu replied, that's not true, they said, tell us. Jehu said,

here's what he told me. This is what the Lord says,

I anoint you king over Israel. They quickly took their

cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps.

Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, Jehu is king.

So Jehu Senat Josephat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram.

That Joram and all Israel had been defending Ramath Giliad

against Hazael, King of Aram. But King Joram had returned

to j Reel to recover from the wounds the Arabians

had inflicted on him in the battle with Hazel King

of Aram.

Jehu said, if you.

Desire to make me king, don't let anyone slip out

of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.

Then he got into his chariot and rode to Jezreel.

Because Joram was resting there. They Desiah, king of Judah,

had gone down to see him. When the lookout standing

on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu's troops approaching, he

called out, I see some troops coming.

Get a horseman. Joram ordered send him to meet them,

and asked, do you come in peace?

The horseman rode off to meet Jehu and said, this

is what the king says. Do you come in peace?

What do you have to do with peace? Jehu replied,

fall in behind me. The lookout reported the as singer

has reached them, but he isn't coming back. So the

king sent out a second horseman. When he came to them,

he said, this is what the king says.

Do you come in peace? Jehu replied, what do you

have to do with peace? Falling behind me?

The lookout reported, he has reached them, but he isn't

coming back either. The driving is like that of Jehu's

and a nimshi. He drives like a maniac. Hitch up

my chariot, Joram ordered, And when it was hitched up, Joram,

king of Israel, and a is Isiah, King of Judah,

rode out, each in his own chariot to meet Jehu.

They met him at the plotter ground that had belonged

to Neabos, the Jezbrielite.

When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, have you come in peace? Jehu?

How can there be peace?

Jehu replied, as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft

of your mother Jezebella bound. Joram turned about and fled,

calling out to our Isaiah, treachery Asiah. Then Jehu drew

his sword and shot Joram between the shoulders. The Arab

pierced his heart, and he slumped down in his chariot.

Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, pick him up

and throw him on the field that belonged to him

in Naboth, the jezreelite, Remember how you and I have

been riding together in chariots beyond Ahab his father when

the Lord spoke his prophecy against him yesterday, I saw

the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons,

declares the Lord.

And I will surely make you.

Pay for it on this ground, declares the Lord. Now

pick him up and throw him on that plot in

accordance with the word of the Lord.

Then Jehu went to Jezreel.

When Jezebel heard about it, she put on eye makeup,

I arranged her hair, and looked out of a window.

As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, have you come

in peace, you Zimri, you murderer of your master. He

looked up at the window and called out, who.

Is on my side? Who two or three eunuchs called down.

At him, looked down at him. Throw her down, Jehu said.

So they threw her down, and some of her blood

spattered the wall and the horses as they trumpled her underfoot.

Jeehu went in and ate and drank.

Take care of that cursed woman, he said, and bury her,

for she was a king's daughter. But when they went

out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull,

her feet, and her hands. They went back and told Jehu,

who said, this is the word of the Lord that

he spoke through his servant. He lied to the dishpite

on the plot of ground at Jezreel. Dogs will devour

Jezebel's flesh. Jezebel's body would be like done on the

ground in the plot of Jezreel, so that no one

will be able to say, this is Jezebel.

Thank you. Okay. Jay was annointed this king. His instructions

were to sort out a have Jezebel. Now, I mean,

if you read there one or two kings, Jezebel was

bad news. I mean, especially if you were a prophet.

You remember Elijah, you know who had that amazing victory

on Mount Carmel, and you know, called down the fire

and it lapped up everything, and I mean, it's an

amazing victory. But when he heard that Jezebel had got

his name on our hit list, he ran for his life.

I mean he out of there. Jezabelt had a reign

of terror on the area. It was just really bad.

But then a funny. When Elijah ran, he couldn't get

out of God's way. And when he stopped running, God

said to them, what you're eli. Elijah told him that

he was I'm bracing and I think it was terrible

and it was awful, and there was him, he was

the only one left. It was just, yeah, really depressed place.

But interesting. God said to go back the way you came.

It was the last thing that most probably Elargia wanted

to do. But going back the way he came meant

that he had this instruction with Jay who that he

was to go with anointing Jay who is king. As

you heard there when Jay who was anointed as king,

when he had that anointing on him, he rode ferociously.

He says in some Bibles towards Jezreel, Nay, you've got

to get the watchman some credit. He was doing his job. Uh,

he kind of looked down the valley and he's said, whoa, guys,

there's somebody coming at us, driving like an idiot. Oh,

it could possibly be that guy jay Who. So they

send somebody to meet him. And the guy that went

to meet him must have been really surprised, h because

he he got there waiting for Jayhu to come up,

expecting Jayhu to start, you know, And as he was coming,

he said, do you come in peace? And he heard

jay Hu's reply, what do you have to do with peace?

Fall in behind me?

Now?

Well, what would it have mattered if Shaye who had

just stopped and spoke to the guy, Well, that's it,

you see, number one, he would have had to stop.

And when he was stopped, he would have had to

have been careful not to lose his sense of purpose

and the enemy would have had opportunity to distract him.

And that's why the second rider got exactly the same

reply Jay said, falling behind me. When the Holy Spirit

tells you to do something, especially if it's outside of

your comfort zone, there's a voice in your head that says,

hang on a minute, let's think about this. You can't

do that. You're not qualified. You can't do that. You'll

make yourself look stupid. You can't do that. You fail

because you always do. You're all excited now, but you

never stay the course. Do you see that voice has

got one agenda, just one, and that's to get you

to stop. And Jay, who do it? He knew what

his mission was, and he knew that he had to

get it done, and he did. And there's a principal here, folks,

do not negotiate with the enemy. But you say, Albert, look,

this is all all right, but this is all bloodthirsty

Old Testament stuff. You know, where is it in the

New Testament? What if you turn to Matthew sixteen and

I just read you three verses from there, twenty one,

twenty two, and twenty three. From that time, Jesus began

to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem

and suffer many things from the elders and the chief

priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised again

on the third day. Peter then took him to one

side and began to rebuke him, saying, far be it

from you, Lord, that this this shall not happen to you.

But he turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan,

for you are an offense to me, for you are

not mindful of the things of God, but of the

things of men. Cut Peter a bit of slack here,

all right, because Peter gets lots of bad press. I

would have done exactly the same as Peter did. If

I had been Peter, I would have said, hang on, Jesus, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,

Slow down here. If that's what they're going to do

to you in Jerusalem, you ain't going. You've got too

good a thing going here. We got revival happening. No,

whoa you. If they're going to do that to you

over my dead body, they ain't going. You aren't going there.

But you see, if Jesus had not gone to Jerusalem,

we would have had no Last Supper. We would have

had no Cross, no crucifixion, no rising again on the

third Day, no ascension, no coming of the Holy Spirit,

and no spread of the Gospel. And this church or

any other would not be in existence. Jesus knew that

he had to go to Jerusalem, and that it was

crucial that he was not talked out of it, and

that's why he said, get behind me, Satan. See, fear

can be a negotiator. When God tells you to do something,

fear says, what if you get it wrong? What if

you haven't heard from God? You're going to make a

fool of yourself if you say that in church, people

will either think you're crazy, you're arrogant, or you're boatstful.

And when you don't do it, he puts the boot in.

Any Way, there I said, you couldn't do it. You're

a failure. You're always going to be. There's no point

in you going to church as they're only going to

look down on you anyway. You're a miserable excuse for

a Christian. And when you stay at home, what do

you get? Depressed? And lunely? He's a real good payer,

isn't he? You know? I just love it when a

plan comes together. Can you remember the verse that was

on the screen that came up in Ephesians this morning?

Anybody tell me what was not word for work? Give

me a rough what it said? That verse in Ephesian six,

nobody remember when you have done all to stand stand firm.

It was there on the screen. And when I saw it.

I went yes, because I love it when a plan

comes together. When you have done all the stand you

stand firm, but not you know, but not in our strength.

Don't even remind you of what verse three was in

that hymn. Stand up for Stand up, stand up for Jesus.

Stand in his strength alone. The armor flesh will fail you.

You dare not trust your own You do not stand

in your own strength. You see, when you have the

Holy Spirit in you, the Holy Spirit will see the

enemy coming way before you do. The Holy Spirit will

give you the power to resist, the power to say,

fall in behind me, because I am going to fulfill

my calling in God today. I've got my pedal to

the Christian medal.

So get out of the way.

See, when we talk about a calling in God, things

get out of proportion a bit. Sometimes. Yes, your calling

could be to be a missionary in some foreign country,

but it may not be. That's not for everybody. Or

it could be to bring up your children so that

they have the opportunity to serve the Lord. You know,

I get people say to me, I'm just a single parent.

Don't you just a single parent?

Me?

You have within your grasp a commodity that you have

no idea of its value. The children that you have

in your care are the next evangelist, pastors, teachers, prime ministers,

members of parliament. You don't know what you have in

your home, and God has entrusted them to you to

bring them up in the ways of the Lord, to

bring them up to be able to fulfill the calling

that God has got on their lives. Or it could

be to be the best employee manager. Yeah, disciple that

you can be. But one thing I can guarantee you

is that the enemy will try and negotiate you out

of it. And what's your answer when he does have mercy?

Mhm h. You have authority now, I I expect all

of you can remember having uh stayed out too long

playing with your mates and it was tea time and

your mom or dad came to the door. And they

wouldn't have said, oh, darling, you're a bit late for

your tea? Would you mind coming in? If your name

was Dave, you would have you would have heard this

David mhm m because it was a voice of authority.

You have spiritual authority through the shed blood of Jesus Christ,

but you have to use it. It's not how please

would you get in behind me. That would be really

convenient if you would no get behind me, follow me,

because I'm going to fulfill the calling of God on

my life today whether you like it or not, and

there is no discussion about it, you know. And I

thank you for those of you that have joined us

online this morning. I know this church is really blessed

because of you. And if this morning the Word of

God has brought up anything in your life that you

need help with, I know the leadership here if you

compact them by whatever it means on their website, they

would love to support you in your walk with God.

But right now there's going to be some time of

ministry here in this church, you see. I don't know

where you're all at with God. But what I do

know is that when God filled me with His Holy Spirit,

it changed my life dramatically. I saw things that I

didn't see before I had. I understood and began to

understand the authority that I had in being able to resist.

But before I pray for anyone to be filled with

the Holy Spirit. If you feel that that's you, If

this morning you do not know Jesus as your personal savior,

then You are the most important person in this room

right now because you don't have a destiny with God yet,

but God wants you to have it. He wants to

be able to call you his son or his daughter.

He's longing to be able to do that. And if

that's you this morning, I am very old fashioned, see,

because I'm old all right, and this morning, you're either

going to stand up for Jesus or you're not. And

I'm not for people waving from behind the chairs at

the back. If you want to receive Jesus as your

personal savior, there is no super glue on your seat.

If you want to ask Jesus into your life, then

I asked you to get out of your seat, stand

up for Jesus, and walk.

Your at the front. Mm hmm. I'll give you just

a few moments for you to do that. Yes, m hm.

Bless you, Oh, bless you, okay, mm hmm.