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(3/26) Welcome to you all today. We are continuing in part two of our series, Following Jesus, and I am wondering if there are any of you here or any of you listening that have been issue, a situation, or a problem that is unresolved. In other words, that thing, which was just the thing, has now continued, it has grown to the point where you think that this is just how you are. You have searched and you have searched, and you can’t find an answer, there doesn’t seem to be a solution, and what was once just a problem has now become your identity.

If you would like to follow along in your Bibles this morning, turn with me to first Samuel chapter 9 and we are going to look at the story of a young man named Saul. In chapter 9, verse three, the Bible tells us,

"Now the donkeys belonging to Saul's father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys." So, he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and through the area around Shalisha, but they did not find them. They went on into the district of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then he passed through the territory of Benjamin, but they did not find them" (1 Samuel 9:3-4).

And so, Saul had searched everywhere, he had looked high and low, and could not find the donkeys anywhere. And now he becomes concerned that the problem that he was searching for an answer for was going to become a secondary problem. I’m not sure which is worse, having a problem to which you can’t find an answer, or having a problem that is a stepping stone to a greater problem. Saul had invested all of his time and energy in finding his father’s donkeys, but now he recognizes, he says to his servant,

"Come, let's go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us" (1 Samuel 9:5).

Isn’t it comforting when you don’t have to go through something alone? You know, when there is somebody helping you, somebody sitting beside your bed, somebody to talk to, somebody who calls you every now and then. It’s nice to have somebody that brings you some soup or some cookies, somebody that treats you like you matter. Saul had been searching for his father’s donkeys, but he hadn’t been alone. In fact, the Bible says it this way,

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls

and has no one to help him up" (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).

Saul’s father has sent a servant with him, and his servant suggested that they seek the man of God. He said,

"Let's go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take" (1 Samuel 9:6).

And so, now they redirect their attentions, no longer searching for donkeys, but now they’re looking for Samuel, now they’re looking for the man of God. And what’s interesting is that even though Saul lived near Samuel, he didn’t know about him. In other words, Saul didn’t concern himself with spiritual things, he was like many people today, he wasn’t against religion, he just didn’t make following God a vital part of his life.

Fortunately, Saul was wise enough to listen to the advice of his servant because God had been working behind-the-scenes, and so he had already been working out the details. In fact, the Bible tells us, that the day before God had revealed to Samuel that Saul was coming and that he should…

"Anoint him leader over my people Israel" (1 Samuel 9:16).

And so, when Saul and his servant approached the city, Samuel was going up to offer sacrifices to the Lord. Now, they didn’t know who he was and so they asked him for directions to the seer’s house. Samuel said,

"I am the seer," Samuel replied. "Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you are to eat with me…" (1 Samuel 9:19).

This is an interesting turn of events, because Saul had come searching for Samuel because his father’s donkeys were lost, but now Samuel redirects him and says,

"In the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart. As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them; they have been found" (1 Samuel 9:19-20).

In other words, Samuel knew that it wasn’t donkeys that were on Saul’s heart. He may have had donkeys on his mind, but that wasn’t what was on his heart. And so, the next day Samuel walked Saul to the edge of town where he told him,

"Tell the servant to go on ahead of us… but you stay here awhile, so that I may give you a message from God." Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying, "Has not the Lord anointed you leader over his inheritance?" (1 Samuel 9:27-10:1).

In other words, Saul comes searching for Samuel because his father’s donkeys were lost, but there was a greater desire, this radical, crazy dream from God that Saul had stuffed deep down into his heart. And so, Samuel says,

"I am here to tell you that you and your family are the focus of all Israel's hopes" (1 Samuel 9:20, NLT).

In other words, Saul hid the dream because he thought if people knew what was on his heart that they would laugh at him. But the people of Israel had been longing for a king, they’d never had a king, and Samuel tells Saul that you’re the one and he anoints him. Saul says,

Why do you say such a thing to me?" (1 Samuel 9:21).

Because he didn’t understand, he didn’t know how this could be, and he was just searching for his father’s donkeys, but what he really needed to get to was what was buried deep down in his spirit.

You see, it was that dream that God had deposited in his heart, something that seemed impossible, and today I want to encourage you not to turn away from that dream or vision that you may not be able to understand today. What God has planted in your heart may not fit into your limited vocabulary today, but don’t let the donkeys distract you and keep you from your destiny.

And so, let’s bring this home. Let’s look at the good news. Turn to the gospel of Jesus Christ in Luke chapter 8. In Luke’s gospel we find a nameless woman, she’s isolated and alone, not because people aren’t there, but because her issue had alienated her from the fellowship of believers. It’s in that context that Luke tells us in chapter 8, verse 42,

"Jesus was on his way… the crowds almost crushed him" (Luke 8:42).

And this woman was there, a woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years. In other words, a woman who hadn’t known the touch of a loved one for 12 years. The gospel of Mark tells us,

"She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse" (Mark 5:26).

And she had searched endlessly for a cure, spent everything that she had, was living from paycheck to paycheck, searching high and low, completely overwhelmed by her issue, feeling like she was just circling aimlessly day after day. And the doctor Luke says,

"No one could heal her" (Luke 8:43).

But at night, when she closed her eyes, there was a dream that was so clear that it made her tremble. And when she awoke in the morning, she was left wondering and waiting, she knew that sooner or later her day was going to come.

This poor, broken, nameless woman whose dream seemed so far from becoming a reality pressed through the crowd following Jesus. She was just another woman in the crowd, but she stood out among the others, because of her radical pursuit of Jesus. Her poverty did not stop her from getting the riches of God in her life.

Luke tells us that this woman with this disease, this woman with this flow of blood, this woman worth this constant bleeding, who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years,

"She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped" (Luke 8:43-44).

Just imagine this situation for a moment, the thought of this blows me away, because there’s no prayer, no pretense, no pattern to follow. This poor, lonely, bankrupt, bleeding woman pressed through the crowd following Jesus. She slipped through the crowd, coming up behind Jesus, and received a miracle from him without even asking. In fact, instead of her asking, we find Jesus asking, "Who touched me?" (Luke 8:45).

And you’ve got to be careful when God starts asking questions. You know, when the Rabbi, the teacher asks the students a question. This reminds me of when God started asking Job questions and he responded saying,

"I am unworthy — how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer — twice, but I will say no more" (Job 40:3-5).

In the same way, disciples were perplexed, they denied having any knowledge. And the Bible says,

"When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you" (Luke 8:45).

In other words, it’s possible to be in the presence of God, to be around him without even being aware of it. Luke tells us that the crowds almost crushed him, pressing in on the presence of God, pressing in around Jesus without being aware of the power or the presence of God.

The psalmist said, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?" (Psalms 139:7).

And so, Jesus is with them, but just being with him, just being in his presence, is not the decisive or determining factor through which miracles come.

In other words, just hanging around with Jesus, knowing Jesus words, or wearing your Jesus T-shirts, doesn’t necessarily release the power of God. If that were the case everybody around him would’ve been healed. But as Jacob said at Bethel,

"Surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it" (Genesis 28:16).

And so, throwing out the name of Jesus, saying Jesus’ stuff, going to Jesus places, is different from reaching out and touching him. In other words, there is something about faith, something about being doers of the word, that triggers the miraculous and releases the supernatural power of God.

This text demonstrates our own personal responsibility to search, to pursue, to press in, to persevere, to keep going, to run the race, to endure all things, because Jesus said,

"Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me" (Luke 8:46).

In other words, he didn’t send it, but it went out from him. He said, somebody touched me, somebody plugged into me; meaning that our faith must be involved in our own personal experience with God. Because our faith is a participatory faith, we have an obligation to be partakers of the divine nature as we reach out in faith and take hold of our miracle. He said, "Somebody touched me."

What that means is that we can gather together in the same place, singing the same songs, hearing the same sermon, and one person can be in tears because they’ve been so touched by the power of God, but another person is unchanged because they were just around him. And so, just being around God without responding appropriately doesn’t produce a miracle. In other words, you’re not going to get any more of God than you desire. God will not force-feed anyone to receive anything that they’re not hungry for.

You see, God is omniscient, he is all-knowing, he is discerning, and he is discriminatory. In other words, he won’t just fill everybody, but instead he says,

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6).

He only fills those who are hungry and thirsty, and so the responsibility is on you and I, it must be a collaborative effort, we have to be involved, we have to desire it, we have to pursue it, we have to reach out and touch it in order for the power of God be manifested in our lives.

And so, you can sit there with your arms crossed, just watching, not participating, remaining indifferent and uninvolved, but if you are don’t expect to receive anything from God. And then, when he opens up the floodgates of heaven and start pouring out blessings on me, I don’t want you to blame God, saying that you came to church and it didn’t work. You went up for prayer and it didn’t work. Because maybe the reason why it didn’t work is because you didn’t work.

The Bible says, "Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12).

Because we’ve got to work it out, our faith is a participatory faith, and much of what God does is simply a response to the faith of the person following him, seeking him, and pursuing him. In other words, sometimes you’ve got to be a little radical, even a little aggressive, but if you’re worried about what other people are saying about you, it’s not very likely that you’re going to receive anything from God.

Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about revival, but the only way we’re going to see revival is if we get hungry and thirsty enough not to worry about what other people are saying or thinking about us. We’ve got to become people who are willing to cry out to God, lying face down in the presence of God, without worrying about what people are thinking. In other words, we can’t be worried about coming up front for prayer because somebody might see us on the video.

One poor woman was about to die when the prophet of God came by her house and said,

"How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?" (2 Kings 4:2).

Elisha took what was in her hands and a miracle broke loose in her life, because hungry people don’t worry about their reputation, they need a touch from God.

Another woman was about to eat the last of her bread and die. The prophet said,

"Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said" (1 Kings 17:13).

You see, revival begins with you, revival begins in your house, the responsibility for an encounter with God is yours. Elijah told the widow, "First make a small cake of bread for me, give me what you have, and then I will work a miracle in your house."

At the end of the day, it comes down to you and God, nobody else can do the work for you. It’s not going to be those in the crowd passing by, or even the other people in the church that determines whether or not you receive something from the Lord. It’s your faith that keeps on praying, your faith that triggers the miraculous, your faith that gets the breakthrough, your relationship with God that releases the impossible and makes it possible.

Another woman lost a silver coin in her house, but she lit a lamp and swept the house, searching carefully until she found it (Luke 15:8). Some of you have been waiting on God, but God is waiting on you. You have been praying for God to move, and God has been waiting on you to move. Some of you need to start sweeping and searching until you get back what the devil stole.

Others of you are making excuses, blaming other people, talking about this and talking about that, and not only is the Lord passing you by, but time is passing you by. I’m here to tell you today, that the Lord has given you permission to reach out and touch him. Like Thomas, you’ve got to get your hands on him, because the evening of the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples, but Thomas wasn’t there.

"The other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it" (John 20:25).

I believe that’s a word for somebody here today, you’ve got to get your hands on it. You’ve got to get involved in it. You’ve got to search for it, reach out and touch it. You’ve got to go for it. You’ve got to stretch for it. In fact, I want you to turn to your neighbor and tell them, "I’ve got to get my hands on Jesus."

Luke tells us that the woman, seeing that she couldn’t go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed (Luke 8:47).

This broken woman told Jesus in the presence of all the people everything that the devil had stolen from her. How for 12 long years, for over a decade; 12 years of loneliness, 12 years of being broke, 12 years of isolation, how after 12 years of bleeding,

"She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped" (Luke 8:44).

She reached out, but she didn’t even touch Jesus. She touched what was touching Jesus, she touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately she got her breakthrough.

Would you tell somebody, "I’ve got to get my hands on it."

"I’ve been bound too long, held down too long, held back to long, worried too long, I’ve got to get my hands on it, because if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36).

Immediately, her bleeding stopped, and she knew it within herself. She didn’t need a doctor’s report, she didn’t need confirmation, because she knew within herself that the bleeding had stopped.

I wonder if there is anybody else in here that knows within yourself that its over? The depression’s over, the loneliness is over, the migraines are over, the isolation is over, being broke is over, being without is over.

Jesus looked at her and it had already stopped. She knew within herself that the bleeding has stopped, that it was already done, and then Jesus said to her,

"Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace" (Luke 8:48, NLT).

In other words, it’s one thing for the bleeding to stop, but what about the years you’ve lost, what about the money you’ve lost, what about the relationships you missed out on, what about the nights she cried herself to sleep? Jesus said, "Your faith has made you well. Go in peace."

I wonder how many of you are ready to experience that kind of faith right now? Would you lift up your hands? You have the opportunity to be made well in your body, to be made well in your faith, to be made well in your sowing and in your reaping. This is your opportunity for revival, your opportunity for restoration, lift your hands to the Lord because he wants to make you well.

You see, faith works by association. And so, when you associate yourself with the anointing it comes on you. You may actually have greater grace in your life than the people you associate with because the Bible says,

"He who walks with the wise grows wise" (Proverbs 13:20).

In other words, he who walks with the successful is successful. He who hangs out with those who are anointed will be anointed. Because faith activates the anointing, but the anointing works by association. That’s why Paul said,

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3:10-11).

You will seek what you want to be. Saul was looking for donkeys. Even though he lived near Samuel, he wasn’t even aware of the man of God or the presence of God. He went down to Ramah looking for Samuel, but he was looking for donkeys, he wasn’t looking to change his life. And so, he never experienced change in his life even though he had an association with Samuel because he wasn’t hungry for God. He never sought the presence of God, which is why the anointing didn’t remain on his life. Saul never had a hunger or thirst for God and that is what grows and maintains the anointing. He had experiences with God, but he never repented, he never changed, he never became hungry for God, and so the anointing lifted. He lost what he could have had, it was taken from him, because he didn’t have a desire for it.

But we are hungry for God, we are hungry for the move of the Holy Spirit. We are hungry for Jesus in this place. We’re going to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, because Jesus said,

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6).

And so, all of these things will be given to you as well. Let’s pray together.

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Read past sermons by Pastor John Talcott