Just Vessels — Jackie Pullinger

Returning Home With Songs of Joy

And it is meant to come. The main thing is going home. It's a song of a sense. And there are lots of things. And the songs of a sense were sung as people were returning home to Zion. And they would walk around the city and as they got nearer and nearer to Zion, they would sing the song faster and faster and more and more happy.

They were going to be home so soon. And that's why my mouth is filled with laughter and my tongues with songs of joy. Because our dream, mine anyway, came true. Except it was better than the dream. I want to go on now to say that the song finishes like this.

Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping carrying his feet to sow will return with songs of joy. Carrying sheaves with him. When Jesus wept for us, Jesus' heart was broken for us.

Weeping With the Heart of Jesus

And this will be the way for those who want to minister in his name. This is not a hard thing. Because you see, we will not be weeping for ourselves at all. We will not be crying because we're having a hard time.

We will not be seeking ministry because we're going through difficulties. We will be weeping with the heart of Jesus. The letters they most love to receive are the letters from people who have just begun to minister to difficult people.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! ...to reach them. And they will be the ones who carry sheaves with songs of joy. As Jesus did. The first plant, the first one to rise up from the dead. Those sheaves of joy never forget as we sing these songs of joy.

If you cry a little, it's what it costs the Lord Jesus. Before we came here, one of our helpers saw those of us who were living. And he's standing with his eyes shut because he doesn't understand my English by one of the mics now.

He's got glasses on. And when she looked at him going out, catch the bus for the airport to come here, she began to cry. But they were tears of joy because she said, I remember him. His name is Achela.

She said, I remember him. Two years ago. He had nothing. He'd been sleeping in the streets for twenty-odd years. He's been in prison over thirty times. When he came to us, he had no clothes and no teeth.

I don't know when I'll see Jesus. There'll be shouts of joy and tears of joy. I don't know which. I don't know what it will be like to see him. I don't know whether I'm going to reach him and hug him on his little feet.

I don't know. But I thank the Lord for his heart for being and reaching me. And in his mercy that he allows us to share that same heart to reach the Lord. There's some people we haven't finished, but it makes it up for a moment.

A Testimony of Transformation Through Jesus

He has asked me to share a story. And I'm just going to translate it. And I have been really one of the worst in 1979. I was considered by the Hong Kong government not to be a Christian. And I cannot say that anymore.

But I have been in Hong Kong for twenty years. And I was so angry when I know that I cannot stay in Hong Kong anymore. And I have to stay in another place where I don't have any friends and relatives and family.

I was living in darkness. In 1987 someone shared with me a gospel. And he told me that Jesus loves me and he can change me in heaven. And one of them is a guy from New Zealand. And one is American. And also there are Chinese as well.

But I was very skeptical. A person like me is too. There are so many fears. But I can see that they really care for me from their heart. And I feel very strongly like this. And I know that they cannot look down on me.

Because in all of my life, I was very much thankful that they really cared. And I can see that they really care to love me. I have two friends. And I have known them for over twenty years. And they tell me that Jesus can help me.

And my two friends, their lives have changed. And so I begin to believe about that. And I believe that Jesus, if Jesus can change them, He can also change people. In 1987, I met a poor family. And the love of the brothers and some brothers really touched my heart.

And I can't really express it in words. And when I think about it, I want to cry. And even if people were I've been certain I've been hit in my life that I've never cried. But the love has melted my heart, which is simply hope.

And after a period of time, I begin to get healed. And by that time, I already know that Jesus has released me. And I feel that I have the hope. And in Macau, there are quite a number of drug addicts.

And as I have received the healing from the Lord, I would like to And among many of my friends, they have already died. And if it's not because of Jesus, I think I would not be here and I deserve healing.

And I feel my heart is burning. And about one and a half years ago, the Lord used me to give me an opportunity to serve Him. And I have the opportunity to share the Gospel in prison. And in the beginning, there are very few who really come to the Lord.

But as the Spirit led us, now up to this day, we have quite a number of brothers. And I have experienced that the Lord gave us a number of brothers and sisters from different backgrounds, different colors, and this is not from human love.

It's the love of Jesus. And I have experienced that after a certain time, our world has moved on. But the death rate of the drug addicts is very high. And all that I have lost before He has given me back.

And one life we have been living in sin and God can change me.

And no man can actually change me, but actually Jesus is changing me.

And through when my family and my friends see the change in me, they accept me. Today, when you see me standing here sharing with you, it's actually a miracle.

The old place where I was born, they do not let me in.

But the New Zealand government actually granted me the visa to come here. You are pleased because I shared my life with you, and I do. I want you to know this joy, so abide, and join me. I need this one.

Ministry Through Weakness and Faith

I don't think I've got around my voice to be honest. I need this one. Notice the words in the book, in the introduction, when my brother there found me and said some words about me and the book that I've written, but it wasn't quite true.

He was talking about me and said that I had a great commitment to the Lord. That's not quite true. But the whole story is about this commitment to me. That's the whole story. And that's the whole story.

And I hope that that can be all encouragement to you today. I have to tell you this, that the longer I minister in the name of the Lord Jesus, the less I feel worthy, and the less I feel able, and the less I feel equipped, and the more I live by faith.

There should not be any revival stage of a feeling it's a bit much for you, which because the word today is for you who are poor in spirit and confused in spirit. For those who are ready to conquer the world, I guess we can learn another thing.

In some kind of change, people in New Zealand, people around here, violence may die, and about how to reach the world, it's not violence. God works for us to minister to. But I think you may understand why I believe it's worth the while.

Remembering the Poor in Galatians

In Galatians, there's a chapter where Peter of Tom had been discussing and praying what Paul and Barnabas in the church should be. What ministry they should separate themselves to, what worship and which did.

And possibly, this may be one of the things that he asked the Lord to show you. Where should I be living? What kind of work should I be doing? What is my faith? And he asked one thing, that here was one word than to Paul and Barnabas, the two of what you could call a specialized work, which is the Gentiles.

This was gave us in verse 10 of chapter 2 of Galatians. It was that we should continue to remember the poor, because I think I will convince you that ministries were these. But the secretary over here now, why?

With ministry to the poor. If you ever think of that, it's a natural or supernatural program of being touched by his heart. I don't think it's possible if it's possible to have been touched by his heart and not to reach out to the poor.

We want to reach a good city. We want to reach the people beyond and the people beyond death which we've been learning in the last few days. But I want to tell you the quickest way to reach the world.

Easily the quickest way, if you want to get a job done quick, is to enter the poor. And then you'll see the businessmen or housewives or whatever. If you want to reach the wild, you have to push this hat, this one, this one, verse 26.

God Chooses the Weak to Shame the Strong

Think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards. Not many were influential. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.

This is the norm, not the exception. This is the norm. God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are denied by the things that are.

So that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God, that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, let him be boastful.

So here it says, not many wise, not many influential and not many of noble birth. You may already know and used to say, I thank God for me. But it doesn't say not any wise, not any influential, not any of noble birth.

It just says, not many. So she said, I thank God. A few. A few. Wise. A few. Influential. A few of noble birth. So she said, I thank God. Wise. A few. Influential. A few of noble birth. That's strange, because most of us in our efforts of evangelism we start somewhere else.

Missionary conferences and their focus one is an exception, but they're nearly all directed, they're nearly all directed to people whom they believe will be influential. And I believe they're unscriptural in stopping that.

I'm glad they're not those people, but they are those people in the minority. And the kingdom of God is not going to be bought out by that influence, by that wisdom, by that education. It wasn't horrified even to me, the church at those times.

People kept asking me, if I want authority, if I want authority, if I want authority. It's authority came from God the Father. I've got some friends in England, they're lovely friends, they love what they do.

And they've always done evangelism the opposite way around. They've always had a lot of people in their city. They're aiming at the top end, and they aim at the top end. You know, God doesn't need those men, people of God.

Revival Among the Poor and Marginalized

And if we look at the history of revival in any country, we are going to find that revival comes about when God does wonderful things for the poor, the underage, those who have nothing to recommend them as well.

Because people know what the Lord Jesus does in us who are poor and weak and have not good family and poor education. And they say, God has even come to Hong Kong when he got his visa from New Zealand and there's no way to get to New Zealand from Hong Kong.

So he had to be escorted through. He had to get off the boat in Hong Kong and the customs officers had to march him to the airport and stay with him the whole time until he got on the plane. There's no way in man's wisdom or in man's influence that he could have come.

But God shows the despised in his poor so that everyone could see what Jesus did. He has a plan for life. He is unfaithful because it multiplies itself. When you've done your little bit, God goes on doing to shame the one, to march himself because he's not righteous, because he's not worthy of Him.

He couldn't choose to. You're quite unequal to the trust. You're going to have to believe that His strength, that His wisdom and His anointing will do the work. Then you see you'll get to glory and you'll start counting and there won't be a worry anymore.

It will be just what He chooses to do and lets you be in it. It's always that way around. He knows it and you get to be in it. I remember when my first all round about six years I used to visit friends in prison and they were all friends I didn't just visit prisons I visited men I knew and there was a governor who used to say he said the problem with Japanese, she was picked losers and I didn't see because I didn't see anyone and the people I visited were in prison and they didn't change and they came out and they made lovely promises and they went back and they went in and they went back and they went in.

I seem to have a talent for picking recidivists. This one this way of preaching the gospel is going to be a little slower than any other ministry a little slower ok so for all of you who want to quickly build a church and get 5 ,000 in two years this is not for you it may be alright that God wants you to do that job but this is not for you ministry to the poor is going to cost you life in your life and ministry to the poor is worth doing and it's worth ministering to one man with the love of Jesus whether he believes or not.

Because you see I'm not going to minister so that you can say I got.

5 million converts you go to minister because the heart of Jesus is to die for one man whether he believes or not so that we should believe so that we could come into his kingdom and be forgiven.

And be healed and be set free.

Wait until we said yes Lord before he died he didn't wait until he got our son fetched from.

He didn't wait until he said I will repent for you. But it's going to be one on one on one on one. I can always you know that speak our language. The reason. It's going to take longer. It's going to be so with you to us.

It's going to be so with your life. It's going to be so with your death. Such precious foundations. It will last long and long after after this decade in doctrine this people will be standing because they were reached by someone who understood what they felt like.

Who were there when they were crying. Who shed the raw skull when they were hungry. Who visited them when they were in prison. Who visited them when they were impossible. Who took the shirts off their back and gave it to them.

That kind of gospel preaching it takes a long time a long long long long time. But the results that come from it to the effort that was expended. Is it completely unfair this ministry. Completely unfair.

You may spend your life ministering to one man and you may never see him come to the Lord. The fact that you have done that will touch millions. And the world is watching. Be sure they are watching. Be sure they are watching.

And I dare to say that millions will come to the Lord because you wasted your life on one poor man. God has chosen the lowly things of the world to nullify. God has chosen to disperse them. A few months ago we were with others of a different tune.

Chinese ambassador was invited to one evening session and I don't know if he had any idea. But he very preciously came and our brothers shared without doing any punches. We sang in Mandarin and he joined in.

We sang worship songs. And the Holy Spirit was there doing what they do across the drag. And here were three men who certainly would not have been welcome in China. God has chosen to nullify the things that are not.

Jesus Meets People in the Walled City

Why are you still here. Because in a place called the wall city which is just a big awful ghetto. It's without it was without poverty. It was very hard for me to imagine that here because we've got peels and sheep oil on the face.

And the children have to play on concrete roofs. There isn't grass to play on. I think it's only that they're reserved and so the children have to play on concrete roofs. Anyway one day he saw that I was crying yet.

One more time. Anyway I was thinking to myself. Well I don't have to stay here. He said. Why don't we leave. And we register at sister jobs and we lose them. We cheat you of money. I've never been involved in an institution before.

I'm not worried about shit. Sorry before you die. He loves me. Anyway.

And he loves you and all the things you've ever done.

We cheat and we steal. They actually used to have parties which they invited girls to young girls of 13 or 14. Some of the parties were also in connection with the police and then they would seduce the girls and sell them because then they were theirs into prostitution and live off them.

And they didn't think this was very bad. They just thought it was their right. It's quite a good way for a young man to make money. He said nobody would love us like that. Nobody would die for us. And I said I know it's very unfair.

That's how Jesus loved me and that's why I'm here. And he loves you like that and it's just as if all the wrong things you've ever done. It's just like the dirty clothes. He will understand why you would do such a thing for me.

Spiritual Gifts Must Serve Love, Not Display

I came to know Jesus and from praying with him to receive the power from this. But God wants to tell you in love words of knowledge when you preach you need to understand what they're for. They're not for showing off.

They're for music so that people understand. God wouldn't say he's on this staircase or he's on that roof because he didn't see it in one particular place. And he got the sort of hunt of York.

When he saw me coming he said oh you're going to kill my people how do you know I'm here.

Actually of course he knew how I knew and you know one day he said to me God's been talking to me and I said no you mustn't laugh and he said no no you know in that box he gave me. I have made the mistake of giving him a box he could lose and I actually put in the front of it um my friend I pray one day he'll be my brother.

And he looked at this and he anyway he kept the box but then the box popped on him. One day by mistake he took so much heroin that I've given him. One day he ran under the cross on the switch bay too and he drew a page of one day he ran under the page of the bible page of um the cross on the switch bay and he actually got hooked.

This went on for about 12 hours and he said I've been reading this and he said um God says he gives special grace to people like me special grace to people like you. And he said yes. It says that if you sin the most you get forgiven the most he sits down.

You're an invited student in this life.

And later on the whisperer comes and bloody things anyway. He came into one of our houses but we'd never consciously gone through it. So the doctor said I'll give you methadone. And we said well we don't think.

So we think that the Lord can heal things without methadone. I'm sure it's only a substitute medication. So spittoon you know what. Spittoon is something to spit into. And because he was shocked he was going to vomit because all our people have been in prison all of Turkey in prison that's very very painful.

And some of them told us that. And going through that experience they've all been on heroin for a long long time. And so he was shocked he was going to vomit and he sat in bed and I sat beside him for two nights and he had the most wonderful time.

Every time he woke up he would pray in tongues and then he'd ask for a cheese sandwich and there's 10 ,000 cheese. And then he would pray and then go to sleep. And after three days and three nights he was wonderful.

And I looked awful. And I've been waiting for the worst to come. And it never came. And he was set free. And the result of that was that all his relations went oh well God can change him. He can change anyone.

And we are going to live in your house too. And so they began to queue up. Now this is what I mean by unfairness of preaching the gospels to the poor it will cost with your tears and with your life and with your nights.

No more long nights. It's the fun of having a holiday. Because I just got so used to being woken up at night by policemen. It's easier to be on call all the time.

Yeah I had to give up.

One Person at a Time

They queued up to come in and so they came in and they came in and they came in and they came in and they came in and they came in and they came in and there was this young man called Sumi and Sumi wasn't a person.

I mean he wasn't a person. Every time he got up to play football he threw a head punch. Now any of you here who have been ministering.

Street kids or addicts know exactly what I mean by a head punch you spend your entire life oh you're all here oh you're all here. We've all forgot this one because he wasn't a person. He had no personality at all.

His father was a gambler and he'd been caught up in a hut with his sister and he said that he used to watch his father. He used to watch the horizon and his father you know when they're trying to go to market they put their their groceries their vegetables on a string which they put over their finger carried it on a string and it was a little toy and he said that if they could see in his father there was something on his finger from a distance.

They knew he wasn't gambling and if there was nothing on his finger they knew he'd lost. He would beat them. They all went to school and he decided to leave. When he was about eight started to scour his fingers under a bridge and very soon afterwards joy began, of course you need to to be protected on the streets.

And they began to take heroin because the big ones. Doctors thought it was exciting and later on he came to our house and he came to know Jesus. But he still wasn't like a person. He was always the one who forgot.

But he was a smart guy because one of the things that we learned that's very helpful for ourselves and very helpful for those who live with us is to pray in the spirit and especially talk a lot and so we would say in a minimum of half an hour a day just get by yourself and pray a lot and pray a ton and he would do this.

He would do this in fact much more than half an hour. And so he grew into the most beautiful guy. There was still the natural beauty but they were built by pieces like that so there was no natural beauty and he became a servant of God.

He was the one that loved to pray with his voice. He was the one that would do too much of that beauty in a room and get up the next day. He was someone who was paying someone. It is Christ Jesus. James 2 .5 says Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom of God.

The Gospel Spreads Through the Poor

Just in case you think that I am still biased I want you to think of one country in the world now where people are coming to Jesus Christ at a quicker rate than any other without big mass meetings without videos without tape recordings without community violence.

We know of villages and churches of 300 are still sharing one bible. Nobody has been to bible school. Somebody who has known Jesus for 3 months may be the next evangelist and the evangelist's job is to walk to the next.

Here you've got a place that happens in churches and nations and evangelists join together to pray and to seek the Lord to reach the world. I think the target today is the year 2000. Here are the figures.

I'm still unreached to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ok once we've got any more statistics.

I'll read these big numbers and I really just want to watch a movie. 5 billion people. 1 third of the human race are destitute. Lacking the basic necessities for survival. 1 third of the human race I get you believe that's not true.

But they wrote it, you know they're a reputable bunch. I think they did their homework. Ok. 1 third of the world lacks the basic necessities for survival. 1 third got ministered to the poor in a certain country once.

Well twice actually. And the ministers very kindly came up to me afterwards and said Judge, would you please not go on with this. This is not the right time for our people to do this because they you know they're not very rich there and they're all doing their best.

You know they keep watching television for ever since about Ethiopia and this country that country. Do you want to lay a guilt trip on us in this economy. I can't lay a guilt trip on anyone. I only want to show you what's in scripture.

What you do about it is your business. It's certainly my business. What I do when I read scripture that is my business. And if my heart isn't clear before the Lord about what I'm doing with my time with my resources and my money with everything I've got.

I have no right to speak. But 1 third of the world lacks the basic necessities for survival. And a large part of the church seems to be involved in praying for better cause. It seems that you may even specify the colour.

It seems that you may claim what you've decided you eat. I don't mind. If you claim what God has designed for your future that you may do the work of the kingdom. I'm claiming what I think I need. I'm awfully afraid I might take it.

God will give you through the way. But the world knows he loves Jesus. And they are watching Christians. They are watching Christians and they'll watch you lot. And if you're making snow that you came to a conference and this cunt is going to be watching you.

Oh you know that whole family went off to a Christian camp and you know how they pick up ministry in their three cars. Oh Christians the world's understanding about how Christians are feeling. I'm sorry about this but they do.

Living the Gospel Before a Watching World

And do you know what the world is hurting for? They're waiting for Christians to decrease the poor open their homes to the homeless take the clothes off their back. For those who have none why do you say one of the most respected people in the world today is Mother Teresa.

It's because she lives the gospel. When you think of her doctrine she lives the gospel and through the way she lives her life and ministers to those dying people on the streets the harmed Jesus. Millions more in every other country in the world are reached through the gospel of Christ, receive this is ministry to the poor.

Receive the reason I say it's the quickest way to reach the world is that if you minister to the poor man everyone else gets ministered to as well. That's how it works. See because the others are waiting to see how the Christians behave.

And when they see the Christians behaving like Jesus did for it's the son of God and like the merits of a son and yet gave them up and gave up and slayed for his father and humbled himself and became a servant.

When they see us behaving like Jesus Christ did, they believe they always did want to they lived. There are millions of people hoping it was true to start behaving like that. The poor of the world I was sharing about this 8 months read the notes we prepared for them to understand about Jesus so they can grow up and say that's great.

But in the meantime what about the parents. I want to tell you that a group of us have been praying for 10 years and we've got a wonderful computer program for teaching people how to read and as a well it's most interesting it takes 10 years to work out the English program.

It will be too difficult for Christians to speak English first so they can learn, so they can get educated so they can read the Bible notes so they can grow up into. But we have to find other ways to reach the poor.

The ground we can't reach. We want to understand if it's not Bible, you'll reach no Bible in Jesus, you want to reach the poor, you want to reach the grounds. You can't reach the broken ones. All these grannies all these grannies living in these bed spaces and we got to start visiting the grounds when we were very very few people and pray for the grannies when they got bad news, even mentally Christians first but they believed in Jesus as they were.

And then the next time they'd run along the other grounds they'd say my wife's got the news. Will you pray for this one. She's got bad news, pick you up because Jesus has touched them where they hurt.

He preached the gospel and it's the world of the poor who understand that Jesus touches them where they hurt. We want to read you what I've read you darling chapter 16 the word of God one, 16 verse 49.

Ezekiel’s Warning About Neglecting the Poor

Now this is the sin. She and her daughters were arrogant overfed. They were haughty and did detestable things in the way. Therefore I give away to them. He defended the cause of haughtiness. This has to be one that you heard on the television station.

The world will be to the poor as this if anyone doubts bad. Another reason why I believe it's the quickest way to reach the world is that the poor are not the gospel. They don't need training. Now you I guess that's why you come to this camp to get some training in preaching the gospel for them.

They do it naturally. There's an old song. You won't look at the whole thing. Now it's got an awful lot of dirty questions. When you when you read this song you think how could God allow that. How could God.

It's like the people in India. How could he allow those slave boroughs. How could he allow that. You have in your streets big young lads see the people in their streets in Australia. And you can't challenge here who they were who brought us up who are still here today.

That's not true. They may be slaves. That's what Psalm 102 says. It says. Let this be written for a future generation that the people not yet created may praise the Lord. The Lord looks down from this sanctuary on high from heaven to do the earth to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.

So the name of the Lord will be declared in psalm and his praise in Jerusalem. Let this be written for a future generation that the people not yet created may praise the Lord. This is what happened in Hong Kong in our own lives.

God’s Work Through the Forgotten and Oppressed

We saw people sexually ill-treated. We saw people who had no holiday ever. This kind of conference could never take place in Hong Kong without a miracle. Because there will never be this number of people who get this number of days off at the same time you are rich in time.

Yeah you have days off and you have holidays. And you have grass to lie on to sleep because they couldn't lie down. At the same time. Mothers who had to do two jobs a day to feed their families and to pay their rent.

Full of people hurting and crying at night. One country to another. One race to another. What? Good answer. Because he chose them. Our guys stayed and he knew it with all their heart. They had been taught this.

We are the best. The rich ones don't know how poor. They don't know how they need the Lord for 30 years. And there was nowhere else into our room to meet Jesus. Initially not more than 5. They say I've been chosen and we haven't taught them that.

I wonder how they get it. They start to pray and say thank you Lord for choosing me. And then they go out and find a friend outside. And they say you've been chosen too. Extraordinary glory. Extraordinary.

And through their testimonies the testimonies of guys who've suffered and had such an unfair and oppressed life. Let this be written for future generations. Let people not get created when they see what God has done in the poor.

And there are people living now who've come to believe in Jesus Christ. Not allowed when our guys have become Christians who know Jesus because of the testimony of our brothers. This is so unfair. I didn't preach to those people.

I just preached to the poor and the others. And the rich. If you think I'm biased I am. You see the rich come to know Jesus. You see what God has done. Go to your church and measure up to give more for the Lord.