Introduction

Dear brothers and sisters, grace and peace to you from our God, our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

I praise God for this wonderful time to study the word of God with all of you. Today, let's look at the First Samuel Chapter 9. I assume that you have read it a couple of times before listening to my sharing, I encourage you to read the Bible first. If you listen to what I am sharing on the First Samuel Chapter 9, you better read this chapter.

It is even better if you flip through the whole book of First Samuel. When we read the word of God, you better study Bible first before listening to my sharing or from someone else. The Doctrine of Destiny or Doctrine of Ming Ding emphasizes the word of God. It is not a good habit without reading the Bible itself and listening to my sharing because my sharing is emphasized how to apply the word of God into our life, that is the key when I give a sermon or lead a Bible Study.

I am not someone who reads the Bible again and again because you can read the Bible by yourself. What I am sharing is about how to apply the word of God. Just like God wrote a letter to us, it is not for our information but for us to take some action. If you refer to the book of Matthew Chapter 7 Verse 24, you will know that: if you read or hear the word of God, you need to put the word of God into practice and you will become a wise man.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24 NIV

You Can Also Experience God Even If You Are Looking for Donkeys

The First Samuel Chapter 9 is talking about a person who was looking for donkeys. After looking for his donkeys, he was walking all over the place for about a hundred kilometers away. I was wondering how come they walked so far away and did not find the donkeys. In the end, they found a prophet and this person was Samuel. At that time, people called the prophet "Seer”. If someone wanted to consult a prophet, people would say: “Look for the seer or talk to the seer.”

Some time ago, I was sharing with someone: “I see a vision like this or like that.” A brother of mine was talking to someone else: “Pastor can see and I can also see.” We are all seers, but the point he was trying to say was like this: “Pastor can see and I can see.” But it was something like boasting about whether people can see it or not. But this is not my point, every time I see this or that is not because I wanted to see those things, it's basically because those things are happening when I minister to someone and solve the problems for that person, I need to build up his or her faith. This is the point; it is not for the sake of seeing something.

That’s why I don't emphasize the gift. Instead, I emphasize ministering to other people. Are you helping anyone? Are you edifying anyone? If you are edifying or ministering to other people, then you are shepherding. I am sure the gift will be given by God and the Holy Spirit will give you the spiritual gift for you to minister because that is the intention of our God.

In this chapter, the donkeys belonging to Saul’s father Kish were lost, and Kish sent his son Saul to look for the donkeys. I believe Saul had never done this before because he walked a hundred kilometers and reached the district of Zuph, the place where the prophet Samuel was.

When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, “Come, let’s go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.” But the servant replied, “Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let’s go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take.” 1 Samuel 9:5-6 NIV

In the end, Samuel was telling Saul that God would make him a leader of Israel. But Saul was never prepared for this day, he was looking for his donkeys and somehow saw Samuel. Before Saul and his servants came to see Samuel, God already spoke to Samuel that about this time tomorrow, a person would come here and look for his donkeys. Saul and his servants could not find the donkeys, but they found the seer. This is the story in this chapter.

Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed this to Samuel: “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel; he will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked on my people, for their cry has reached me.” (1 Samuel 9:15-16)

What I am trying to say is that the Bible has long paragraphs to tell us a story about Saul looking for his donkeys in detail. I assume that the book of Samuel was written by Samuel. If the book was written by Samuel, we need to know what the author was trying to tell us. The author was trying to tell us that there is a spiritual experience in life.

The Spiritual Experiences Are Telling Us That We Need God

I am not sure whether you have any spiritual experience. Years ago, I was looking for a job because I need a job to survive and make a living. But at that time, I could not speak English and could not understand what people were talking about in English. That was the problem. That is why when you listen to my English today, I cannot speak English very well. But as a second language, my English is better than some of the people, but still not good enough.

When I was looking for a job, I sent out my resumes and waited for interviews. Do you know what happened? I found God! One day, I walked into the church, and I thought someone in the church could refer a job to me. But in the end, I got to know God. For this Saul, who was looking for the donkeys and somehow found the prophet Samuel and experienced God.

I believe you and I have many spiritual experiences in life. But have you and I ever concluded something? I have concluded this: “I need God!” Although I was looking for a job in my life because I need to make a living. Although, I may have lost a donkey and looked for the donkey. Sometimes, I may have lost the key to enter my house, I need God to help me. There are plenty of stories in our daily life.

What can you conclude from this spiritual experience? The spiritual experiences are telling us that God wants to reveal Himself, He wants to make Himself known to us so that we can be used by God as a king! What a wonderful thing! After many years of the Christian life, I become a Pastor and found the church, I was having a lot of trouble when setting up the church. During that time, I was leading people to study the word of God. Do you know what I found? I found the Doctrine of Destiny, which comes from Bible Study, praying to God, and revelation from God.

Today, because of the word of God and the Doctrine of Destiny, God revealed the truth to me. We have done a wonderful job, we have plenty of miracles, testimonies, signs, and wonders every week, and many people were healed. It is not because I got the gift to look for a job, donkeys, or heal the sick. No, it is because I got the truth from God. The key is about the victorious church, the church is the body of Jesus Christ and the spirit of God is dwelling among us and that’s why all the signs and wonders follow.

Yesterday, I was praying for a cancer patient, his stomach was pushed by something inside the belly. He was having a hard time to breath. After we prayed for a little while, his stomach was healed. I have prayed for someone with a broken bone who was healed. I have also prayed for someone who had a problem giving birth to a child, she was not able to conceive. After praying, she got a baby. A couple of days ago, she came to visit me and I was told that her baby has grown up and is about four or five years old.

What I am trying to say is that after so many spiritual experiences in our life, can you conclude? You and I both need God! This is the intention from First Samuel Chapter 9. Not because Saul eventually became a King of Israel and experienced God. Anyone who is caught by God would experience the spiritual reality one way or the other. At that time, people knew Samuel as the man of God, they also knew fortune-telling and horoscope. Today people still know that, but they cannot conclude that they need God.

I am so happy to have God in my life, and I praise God for choosing me to set up a church and choosing me to find the doctrine of destiny. The doctrine of destiny is to restore the doctrine preached by the apostle Paul. That is why I became a person who does a similar job to what Samuel did in the first Samuel Chapter 9. You may want to try it. I have a lot of preaching, a lot of sermons, and Bible studies on my website.

Almost every day, I experience miracles. People knew the man of God, and when they lost the donkeys, they knew they needed to visit the prophet. Can we conclude what I had drawn years ago? Many years ago, when I was trying to look for a job, I found God, God gave me a job, and ever since, I trusted God. I am very sure that my job was given by God. Not because I am a pastor but because I need God. I was looking for a job and I found our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the greatest treasure ever that I found in my life.

When I was in my twenties, I was desperately looking for a job but I could not find a job. I was not able to speak proper English and wrote my resume in broken English. One day, I walked into the church. I heard the Gospel of Christ, and our Lord Jesus Christ became my Lord and my savior. Then, the miracle happened! I found a job! The firm gave me only a one-year contract because nobody agreed but only the boss agreed to hire me. During my probation working in the firm, I was in a good relationship with my superior.

After three months, I went onboard the job and my boss was sharing with me that my job was given by God. I said, "I know I am not qualified for this job. I don't know how I got this job, but I know that God is helping me. " The boss shared with me that he had a whole stack of resumes and in these resumes, there were people from Imperial College, from the National University of Singapore, and some people who graduated from good universities in the US, but they only got 1 headcount. He laid his hands on the whole stack of resumes and prayed, saying, "God gave me someone.” Do you know what happened? He heard a voice, my name was mentioned and spelled in Chinese. He took out the resume, read it, and said "He is not someone I'm looking for. Oh God, I need someone who can help me to fix my technical problem. "

My ex-boss believed in prayers before he did anything. He was a one-year-old new Christian who had experienced God during his difficult times. He accepted Christ a year ago due to his struggles in his life with situations that intertwined with life and death, and he knew he needed Lord Jesus Christ for everything he handled. The next morning, he prayed again, and my name came to his ear again. And on the third day, he laid hands again, and the same thing happened. That voice was like someone is speaking in his ears. It was not words formed in his mind and it was God’s voice speaking to him. Who am I? I am nobody.

In the end, I came to know Jesus Christ because I was looking for a job and God gave me this job through this miracle approach. Do you know since the day I accepted our Lord Jesus Christ; I did not miss any of my Sunday worships, up till now there were about 1500 Sundays. Every Sunday, I committed myself to our Lord Jesus Christ because I know I need him, my life is in his hands, and he is controlling everything.

The Doctrine of Destiny or doctrine of Ming Ding is to live for him, die for him, born for him and everything is for him. We have a lot of spiritual experiences, and if you experienced God, I encourage you to draw the same conclusion as what I have drawn because you will get more grace and more experiences. This is the will of God; he wants you to live well.

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. Deuteronomy 28: 1 NIV

The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Deuteronomy 28: 13 NIV

Our God wants you to be appointed as the king, as the priest, as a Princess, and a Prince. Our God never wants to appoint us as someone who begs or someone at a low place. God will put you above, not underneath. If you obey the word of God and take him as your God, he will put you above all other nations and not underneath. He will make you a head, not a tail. That is so wonderful! That's point number 1, people have a lot of spiritual experiences.

Saul Experienced God Even When Finding Donkeys

But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 1 Samuel 8: 6 NIV

In First Samuel chapter 8, man rejected God. This Israelite looks at God and says, "Can you appoint someone to be our king?" Then God says, "Samuel, these people are not rejecting you as their priest, but they are rejecting me, the God, to be their king because people are not happy. They want to change the system and follow all other nations. Do you know what God says? Let us look at 1 Samuel 9:16.

"About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel; he will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked on my people, for their cry has reached me." (1 Samuel 9:16 NIV)

God is looking at your problem, concerned about your problem, and hearing your cry. People just rejected God as their king, and now God has given them a king. He wants this king to follow the word of God, lead the Israel people to bind to God, and address all the issues through the spiritual approach.

Do you wonder why Saul experienced such a thing, looking for a donkey, walking about 10 kilometers, and meeting this man called Samuel? Saul did not know because God was leading his way. God had foretold Samuel that he would see someone and this man would be appointed as the ruler to deliver God’s people from the hands of the Philistines. Are you with me? Probably you and I, now and then, have rejected people, but God is still concerned about you and me.

In the past few days, I have been ministering to someone who is suffering from a tumor, suffers from cancer, suffers from skin problems, arm problems, neck problems, back problems, and feet problems. They are suffering because they disobeyed the word of God, and they rejected God as their king.. If you and I receive God as a king over our lives, you and I will probably live a better life.

Looking at the life of Samuel, did you see Samuel suffer from cancer? No. Did you see Samuel suffering from a swollen leg? No. Was Samuel suffering from high blood pressure? No. Was Samuel suffering from sleep problems? No. This is the man of God. Everything he asked, God responded, and this man is the seer, and everything he said come true. I want to be like this kind of person. I do not want to suffer from cancer, and you come to minister to me. I would rather someone else suffers cancer, and I would minister to that person.

People have rejected God ever since the Exodus when they came out of Egypt. They were set free from the hands of the Egyptians under King Pharaoh. And they were set free, even coming from the day of First Samuel till today. People have a lot of spiritual experiences but still reject God, and yet God is concerned. What a wonderful and good God we have. God knew this Saul would be made into a king. The new spiritual experience was looking for a donkey and meeting Samuel. Samuel appointed him and told him what God had prepared for him to do. Saul was a very tall and handsome guy, about one head taller than anyone else. Unfortunately, looking handsome but did not obey the word of God. The whole book of First Samuel talks about the whole life of Saul, and also partially talks about Eli, Samuel, Saul, and David. The book of First Samuel is worth reading.

God is looking for a person, looking for the person who can obey His word, and they are looking for the person who can minister to others. God is looking for people to be the King, Princes, and Princesses. **God is looking for someone to rule over the world, the birds in the sky, the creatures on the ground, and creatures in the sea. God is looking for someone who can manage everything and does not follow the way of the world but follows the way of the words of God and follows the way of the spiritual world. Are you with me?

How wonderful it is to know the spiritual law and the spiritual theory. When people rejected God, God will still care for them. How touching can that be? Can our hearts able to comprehend the good intention of our God even if we rejected him again and again? **God wants us to conclude that He is in control of everything by giving us one after another a new spiritual experience. God is in control of everything and God is a very powerful God. Though I did not list down the points in numbers at every point, I would emphasize it a little more.

God Is in Control of Everything

The next point is called God is in control of everything. Saul was searching for the donkeys, walking every step closer to the Prophet Samuel, and was appointed to be the leader or ruler of Israel by Prophet Samuel. Saul not only became the leader and the missing donkeys were also found. Maybe the donkey walked back by themselves. God had informed Samuel the day before that a man would come to him. Nothing is a coincidence and everything is controlled by God.

God knows how many hairs you have on your head. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many small birds. Luke 12:7 NIV

In the New Testament, our Lord Jesus was telling us that God knows how many hairs we have on our heads and not one hair will fall off if God does not allow it. Can you see God is in control? Knowing God and serving God is so wonderful.

There is a cancer patient to who I have been ministering and after my ministering, she was healed. Now and then, I encouraged her to minister to others as I have done to her but she was reluctant. Do you know why she was reluctant? Her reason was that after she ministered to someone and the next day, her body felt different, her body was weakened and she had breathing difficulty. She seemed to have pain all over her body. She concluded with all kinds of reactions from her body were an attack from the devil.

The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. Deuteronomy 28:7 NIV

Oh my God! What kind of conclusion is that? In the doctrine of destiny, we do not believe in the attack because the enemy comes at you from one direction but flees in seven ways. If you read the bible carefully, you will read about obeying the word of God, obeying all His commandments, and God’s dwelling will be among us, and no attacks will be able to harm us. We do not believe in spiritual attack; we believe in victory in the spiritual world. She was so reluctant to minister to others and after several years, her cancer relapsed. Her cancer came back.

I was very upset and sometimes, I felt like punching her to wake up from the lies. Can you wake up brothers and sisters? Please do not believe in this kind of nonsense but instead believe God is in control of everything. We are living for God; we die for Him and we come to this world for Him. Everything we are doing; we need him and we have to rely on Him. All the spiritual experiences we have gone through are giving us a wonderful revelation to conclude that God is in control of everything.

Samuel Gave All The Respect And Honor to Saul

After Samuel met Saul is another point in which Samuel gave all the respect and honor to Saul. Saul was not from a rich, big family or a big tribe. If you read verse 21, Saul answered, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?” Saul came from the smallest tribe, the smallest clan, and not from a famous family as well. His background was very inadequate as he did not receive a good education and did not know much about the words of God. The only exception Saul possessed was his handsome face and striking physique. Though his background was inadequate, he was anointed as a King. When people were selected and chosen by God was not because their background was good or bad. Are you encouraged?

You and I were coming from the inadequate family background. Neither was from a wealthy family nor a prominent tribe or clan. In the book of first Samuel, God chose Eli to serve him but he failed so God selected Samuel to serve Him and was pleased with him. Samuel had a very good relationship with God. Everything that Samuel prophesied came true. Now, God chose Saul, and later on, David was chosen by God. God is looking for people who can satisfy his heart.

God has a good intention; a good heart and His only desire are wanting us to satisfy His heart. It is not something difficult for us to comprehend. God has done everything for the benefit of you and me. Why do I have to convince so much? Why do I need to persuade the cancer patient with so much effort by asking her to minister to others for her benefit? Do not be silly anymore. Let us be the wise person to understand that we are serving such a wonderful God is a grace as well as for the benefit of you and me.

Do not be concerned about your background anymore, have your heart for the Lord and be a person who meets the criteria of God. God is looking for someone high and low all over the world to be able to serve him and love him wholeheartedly. I do not mind telling you that God has touched my heart. Since the day I knew Our Lord Jesus Christ, I love him dearly. He is my life, everything and that is why I can put down everything but I cannot put down our Lord Jesus Christ. All because I had concluded all my spiritual experiences.

When I was looking for a job and I found our Lord Jesus Christ. I knew at that moment, that He is a great treasure in my life. I made up my mind to put down everything for him and not rely on myself. I rely on the God that I am serving. Regardless of our background, we aim to be the prince and princess of the almighty God. Let us aim to be the King or a ruler whichever God gives us the authority. Are you with me? You will understand once you are selected by God.

God Will Give You All Kinds of Respect and Honor

Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the hall and seated them at the head of those who were invited—about thirty in number. Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the piece of meat I gave you, the one I told you to lay aside.” 1 Samuel 9:22-23 NIV

The next point, I am going to give you is that God will give us all kinds of respect and honor. When Samuel met Saul and seated him at the head of those who were invited. He instructed the cook to prepare the meat, which was put aside, especially for Saul.

After they came down from the high place to the town, Samuel talked with Saul on the roof of his house. 26 They rose about daybreak, and Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get ready, and I will send you on your way.” When Saul got ready, he and Samuel went outside together. 1 Samuel 9: 25-26 NIV

After the meal, Samuel talked to Saul on the roof and that demonstrated the kind of honor which was given to him. Samuel was a famous person and the number one person among all the Israelites. If Samuel had given respect to Saul and who dared not to give respect to him? Saul was like the guest of honor not because of his background but because he was chosen by God. Saul was appointed as the ruler of Israel to deliver the people of God out of the hands of the Philistines. Are you hearing that?

It is a great thing to be able to serve God to obtain all the honor and respect. Saul had received such great honor and respect while God was preparing him to be a good King subsequently. It did not matter if you came from the smallest tribe and the smallest clan among the Israel people. God gave you everything and you can record this day of the wonderful appointment given by God to be able to lead the Israelites in the will of God. Let the will of God and the plan of God come into our lives to satisfy the heart’s desire of God.

Conclusion

I want to conclude point number one which many people have experienced all kinds of spiritual experiences and what kind of conclusion can you draw? Many people rejected God again and again but people are still concerned about you and me. I want you to know that God is in control of everything even if you are walking, talking, and everything you are doing, God is still in control. It is not by coincidence that God chose us and it is regardless of our backgrounds. Even though you can be merely a cleaner, God can choose you to perform a wonder.

If you rely on God and God will bestow us all kinds of respect and honor to prepare us to take up what He has assigned to us. We have to take up the tasks that were assigned by God so we can rely on Him to accomplish what He had given us. Can you draw the same conclusion? I wish you to draw the conclusion that you and I need God. You and I live for God and die for God. You and I live for Our Lord Jesus Christ. You and I die for Our Lord Jesus Christ. Today we no longer live but Christ lives in us. Ministering to people is the grace of serving the Lord which is so wonderful and it is the nutshell of the doctrine of destiny or the doctrine of Ming Ding.

May the Lord bless you and see you next week.