Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Only Believe

We just encourage you to continue to pray for the team that has gone out. They've arrived safely in Eldoret, a long journey for them as they flew for numerous hours. Many of you saw them off at the airport. They left early from the airport, and arrived about--let me see; what was it?--about 24 hours later in Nairobi and then got off the airplane and jumped in a bus for a six-hour bus ride without stopping, and arrived in Eldoret about eight o'clock this evening--a long journey. It's a big world, isn't it? They've arrived safely and excited about what God is doing. The reports we got were that the food was good--seemed to be all the report that was important that came back to us; it was from Jeff. They're there and alive and ready to get about Father's business. Just continue to pray and believe God for the good things that are ahead.

We did share with you that the meetings there are growing in Eldoret. The lunch-hour meetings are actually larger than the evening meetings, and it shows a little bit about their culture as they're gathered in the cities. It's exciting that the Christians are looking for some way to get edified during the day. We're looking to bring that ministry. I think one of the things that's exciting is that in these meetings, a number of people have verbalized, "Okay, the meetings are great, but what's next?" They are realizing that there's ministry that is still to come to them in the shepherding of their souls. There just are not that many shepherds that would lay their lives down for the flock, and they're sensing that in this ministry and excited about it; so, be prayerful. I'm convinced that when this next couple of weeks is over, we're going to have another family in Eldoret, another church that has joined into the body of Christ and a part of our community here. It's an exciting thing to watch.

Jesus said that we're to go into all the world and preach this gospel. The believers, then, that are baptized are going to be baptized not just in water, but into the body of Christ and also recognized as part of the living entity of the church. The church is bigger than us. We're all very aware of that, but the church includes us. Those that are a part of our community are part of the church, and Jesus said, "The gates of hell aren't going to prevail against My church." This is what we're excited about. It's the church; it's the representation of His headship through each living organism and each member of the body. It's an exciting thing to watch a church come to life because He said, "Where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them." Think about it. Yesterday there wasn't a church; today there is. That's exciting, praise God, a place where Jesus' name is being glorified, and we're excited about being a part of that. Be prayerful and continue to hold all of those up in prayer.

Let's turn to John's gospel tonight, and we're going to talk about what it means to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scripture says if you'll confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead, you'll be saved. What does it mean to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? First John says, "These things have I written that you might believe in the Son of God" (1 John 5:13). The Word of God has come for the very purpose of bringing us to an understanding, a confidence, a trust, an assurance, in His redemptive work, in His lordship, and in His headship, as He is intimately involved in your life, ordering every step. Do you believe that tonight? You see, if you think you're subject to fate, you're not believing in Jesus. If you think you're here by mistake tonight, you're not believing in Jesus. If you think that the circumstances that you're involved in right now somehow the devil is controlling, or the world is in control, or fate is in control, then you're not believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. How can we not rejoice, as we talked about Sunday, in everything if God is the author of it, if He orchestrates everything for His good? "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). When I talk about the orchestrating, I'm not talking about Him being the initial cause of the evil. I'm not talking about Him being the originator of the pain that you're in. I'm talking about the fact that God, in His infinite wisdom, in His sovereignty, in His lordship, takes all of these things into consideration and brings them to this purpose: your good. "For all things work together for [say it] good." It will all work out for good if you'll believe in Him. Do you believe in Him tonight? What does it mean to believe on the name of the Son of God? We give Him lip service. "Do you believe in Jesus?" "Oh yeah, I believe in Jesus." Who is He? "Who do men say that I, the Son of man, am?" You'll get a lot of answers, won't you? Some believe that He's a great teacher. Some believe that He's a prophet. Who is He? The real issue of life to every one of us in this room: Who do you say that Jesus is? Peter's response was, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16). He said, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto [you]" (verse 17). Do you understand that what you believe tonight you didn't come up with? God chose you. By revelation, you understand who He is tonight. It's a mystery to the rest of the world; it's a gift to you. Do you take it lightly? Do you think you can come any time you want? You're going to find out that you can't just come to God any time you want. You can't come if you're not drawn, and we need to realize that. What a precious gift to have the Holy Spirit touching our hearts! It can start at a young age.

Hope was over at the house this afternoon. We were watching her for a few minutes. I was at the computer and I could hear her in the other room. Greer would say something and she'd say, "I know." Then Greer would say something else, and Hope would say, "I know." Greer said, "Do you know everything?" She thought for a minute, then said, "Well, I don't know everything, but I know most things." At least she's not thinking of herself more highly than she ought to think. What goes on in a little four-year old's mind? Just last night, that same little four-year old who knows "most things" said to her momma, just about bedtime, "I need to be born again." Kimberly said, "Well, what does it mean to be born again?" She said, "Well, it doesn't mean to go back into your tummy; it means to go into His." That's profound. "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you." Amen? Listen to what she said. She said she wants to be born again because she doesn't want--listen; these are the words of a four-year old--"because I don't want to be standing on the outside pleading, because those that aren't born again go to hell." What does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?

I want to take just a second. We've shared so much and so thankful for Richard's ministry; but every one of you who works under him, thank God for what you're putting into our children. Jeff was saying the other day, and I've heard it. It's amazing what our little children know! How many of you parents are just sometimes taken aback by what your kids come home with? Are you? It's just an amazing thing. They come back and the things they say, the understanding of the gospel; our kids are getting the bread of life, but it's more than knowledge. They're getting all of the instruction that they need. Thank God for it, but what does it mean to believe? If we're hearers and not doers, the Scripture says we've deceived ourselves and there is no truth in us. Knowledge puffs up. We're coming to that question and have to answer it: Who do you say that I am? Peter said, "The Christ." And He said, "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father which is in heaven."

We're giving all of our children equal opportunity to hear. Some of yours will not accept. Are you going to blame yourself? Why don't we blame society? Let's blame the church. God is not willing that any would perish. They weren't given second-rate gospel truth. What you have, what your believing children have, cannot be taken lightly. It is the gift of God. It is mercy and grace, and beloved, we need to be so thankful. They may not all believe, and for those of us that have unbelieving children, unbelieving loved ones, it's grievous; but how much more to the heart of God. The focus is not on those who don't believe; the focus is on those who believe. That's what we want to talk about tonight. The issue is the ground, the receptivity of the individual, and the ability to get our carnal minds purified to realize that those among us that reject this glorious gospel are purposeful God-haters, willful rejecters of the blood of Jesus Christ, and worthy of the justice and the judgment of God. I say that with no malice. I say it with the same brokenness of heart that you have, but I say it to the glory of God because we all deserve that hell, and God has reserved to Himself a remnant. What you have cost Him everything and will cost you everything.

John's gospel, sixth chapter. What does it mean to believe? It's not cheap. It's not a superficial acknowledging of the historicity of a man named Jesus. It's not enough to believe that He was born of a virgin; that He was manifested in the flesh; that He was crucified, died, buried, and rose again. "Well, the Scripture says, 'If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved.'" What does it mean to believe? Is belief the acknowledging of a fact? Is it the acknowledging of a fact, or is it the response, the acceptance, the imbibing of the consequence of the act? You see, most of us think that believing is just the acknowledging of the fact. It's not; it's the embracing of the fact. It's causing the fact, the reality of what Jesus did, to affect your life. You can see it; you can feel it; you can be a recipient of it. I've shared here, and some of you were in the room. I shared when we were praying for Louis Castro years ago and I said, "God is going to raise him from the dead." You all that were here know that he was dead. He was brain-dead. You can't get deader than that. There were no brain waves. He was artificially being kept alive, breathing. I shared that God was going to raise him up and there would be those among us that would see that sign that so many sought for--"If I could see somebody raised from the dead, I'd believe." I said, "You're going to see it, and you won't believe." Many of those people who saw it with their own eyes, they're not among us today and they're not serving in the kingdom today. What does it mean to believe, to acknowledge a fact? There was no denial that a notable miracle had been done. Do you think that seeing a miracle will change your life? Is that what some of you think you need tonight, if you could just see some type of supernatural invasion of God into your life? I've seen a lot of it, and it doesn't change people. It excites them; it can influence them, but it doesn't change them. Change only comes by decision, by commitment, through determination. The cheap "believe-ism" that we're experiencing in our country today is killing the church, but there's a remnant that believes.

What does it mean to believe? John, chapter 6, that's what the whole chapter is about. When you get time, read the whole chapter. It's the chapter on the bread of life. The chapter says, "A great multitude followed him, [why did they follow Him?] because they saw his miracles which he did [to those] that were diseased" (verse 2). Isn't it interesting that so many of the big crowds over the years follow the healing meetings, the miracle-workers, whether it's the A.A. Allens, the Oral Robertses, the Reinhard Bohnkes, or whomever it might be? We do know that signs are to follow, and we do know that part of what we're to do when we go out and preach this gospel is to lay hands on the sick and see them recover. When that becomes the emphasis of ministry, and there are signs following, the masses come. But true signs and wonders aren't initiated by men; they're initiated by God. You can't just do it whenever you want. I believe we're going to see an increase in the miraculous as the Lord is preparing to come back, but I don't think you're going to see it like we did before, in the miracle-workers, the personalities. I believe it's going to be in the body ministering and caring one for another. The gifts of the Spirit are going to work not just in fivefold ministry gifts, but the gifts are going to affect the body of Christ; and the gifts of the working of miracles, the gifts, plural, of healings, plural, are going to begin to function in our midst as we pray one for another. What does it mean to believe? What is it that the true believer is seeking? Healing, a miracle, a visitation of God, life made easier?

I remember as a little kid--well, I was never "little." I remember as a kid watching Oral Roberts. I wasn't saved, but I remember watching him on television, and I was fascinated by the miraculous. I wasn't a believer in the true sense, but I was a believer in this sense: that if there was a God, He could do that. How many of you know what I'm talking about? I wasn't a believer in that I committed my life to Jesus, but I was a believer that if God exists, that's no problem for Him. Do you see why it was so easy for me to transition once I became a believer, once I realized there was a God? Once I realized what His promises were, it was no problem for me to believe that "all things are possible to [say it] he that believeth." I'd watch that and I'd say, "That's cool!" People would say, "Do you believe in that stuff?" I'd go, "Yeah, I believe that." "You're kidding me! You believe that a guy can pray and that people can get healed and drop their crutches and all that stuff?" "Yeah, I believe that." "Then why are you out drinking with us? Why are you out carousing with us?" I've shared with you that I'd take my buddy, Joe, down to the Catholic church. We'd go down there, and he'd run in there and do his thing, run in and "Hail Mary," and back out. "What are you doing in there?" "I went to confession." "What are you confessing?" "All my sins." I said, "Did you confess the ones that you're getting ready to take? We're going out drinking, man." "No, that's next week." "Well, what do you believe?" He went to catechism. He could quote the catechism. What does it mean to believe, to go to confession and live like the devil? It doesn't matter which spectrum you're coming from, the formality of Catholicism or the carnival environment of the Pentecostals. Have you ever been in an old Pentecostal meeting, tent meeting, sawdust floor, "walked the sawdust trail"? Have you ever heard that phrase? How many of you ever heard of "running the backs of the benches"? Those guys would jump up during church. They'd have these wood benches, and the Spirit would come on them and they'd take off running just on the backs of the benches. They'd run up there, "Hallelujah!" with their eyes closed. Made for some good crashes, but some of it was really kind of interesting. I've seen people do that stuff with their eyes closed! I saw a guy dancing one time around a platform like this and I tell you he danced for five minutes right on the edge of something like this with his eyes closed, hands raised, and he was just dancing. He would step there [right on the edge] and he would step there [another step right along the edge], and I'm watching him. I'm saying, "He's going down, Jack. That's all there is to it." I don't know why. I can't explain some of these things. "That just seems extreme; it seems fanatical." It does, doesn't it? What does it mean to believe?

Do you have an explanation for why that happened? Do you have an explanation for why it shouldn't happen? Do you have a doctrine? We want to explain everything; we want to control everything. What does it mean to believe, to let God have His way, to do it His way? That's not how I'd do it. I like lively meetings. I like full expression, but I've been in some wild meetings in my day. I've seen every type of charlatan you can imagine. I can still remember sitting in this one service, the band had been playing their guitars, and this guy was up there. "Oh, God just gave me a word. O, beloved [he took his guitar--and I can still see it--and he drew this big circle], God said anybody that will come and put a hundred dollars in this circle, God will heal you tonight." People were going up there and dropping money in there. It's sad what's been done in the name of Jesus, but you know, the fact is that some of those people got healed--not because they coughed up a hundred bucks. What does it mean to believe? Where does that spark come from that causes a supernatural reaction in the life of the individual? "If I could just touch the hem of His garment, I'll be made whole." Was it the garment? Where did that faith come from? We've explained that to you according to the Scriptures. What does it mean to believe? There are some strange things that happen that we call "faith," that we call "belief."

One of the first miracles that we've ever received in Sword of the Spirit, we got a letter about. I can remember when we went on the radio and the first two days we would go down to the post office box, no response. I still remember our first letter that we got in Box 377. "Well, praise the Lord, friends. This is Pastor Star Scott coming to you on the Sword of the Spirit broadcast. [Anybody ever heard that?] We're here to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God our Father." Man, I've said that a few times over all these years. One of the letters was cool. A guy was listening to us teach on faith: the faith that whatsoever a man believeth, all things are possible to he that believeth. The person got so excited listening to this thing. He had a loved one that lived behind him. Their houses were close to each other, and the one was sick in the bed. The guy got so excited he just took the radio, ran to the other house, put it on the guy, and he got healed instantly! This was the letter we got. It wasn't even plugged in anymore; the cord was just hanging. Is that cool? What does it mean to believe? Who believed, the guy that was talking that wasn't plugged in anymore, the guy carrying the radio, or the guy in the bed? Let's find out. We've asked a lot of questions. Let's see if we can answer any of them. One thing that we do know is that people will come to Jesus en masse for the wrong reasons. "En masse," I mean, you know, large groups. People's motives are not always pure for coming to the Lord, are they? Why are you here?

The multitudes came because of the miracles that He did on those that were diseased. You'll notice that Jesus usually will withdraw Himself from that type of an environment, if you'll read the Scriptures. The Scriptures say that He went to the mountains to pray, and the people sought Him out. The Scripture also makes it very clear that they were coming, verse 15, to take Him by force and to make Him their king, a king that would do what they wanted Him to do, a king that would be there to provide for them food and healing. What Jesus had done in this environment as He withdrew Himself, He also, the Scripture tells us here, made provision for the people, and it was the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. He said, "Make these people to sit down," and He took the loaves and the fishes and gave thanks and He distributed to the disciples. Verse 12 says, "And when they were all filled, they gathered up the fragments that remained so that nothing would be lost." You know, there is a great truth right there, isn't there? God doesn't waste His miraculous presence. "So that nothing would be lost." "Don't despise My visitations. Don't cast off anything that I've ever given you, whether you count it a fragment, a crumb, or not. Everything that originates from Me is valuable; don't lose it." There's a sufficiency there. There's a purpose for it. There's a purpose for everything that God is doing in your life.

They were seeking Him for the miracles, the healing. He is going to withdraw Himself from them, but the Scripture, as you read it in another context, says that He had compassion for them. In addition to those who were seeking Him in the wrong spirit there were those that were seeking Him for the right purposes. He was moved with compassion, and He saw that they were fainting, and He said, "Don't send the people away hungry. What do you have?" They said, "We don't have anything here but five loaves and two fishes." He said, "It's enough. Bring it to Me." They brought it and He prayed. He blessed it; He broke it; He gave; they ate; there were twelve baskets full left over, and they rounded it up so that nothing was wasted, and each of the disciples received a basketful of the anointing, the presence, the miraculous visitation of God. Then He withdraws Himself, and they want to take Him by force and make Him a king, but He set Himself apart alone to pray, verse 15 says. When it looks like things are going real good, get alone and pray. You see, this looked like a revival. People were ready to accept Him. They weren't trying to kill Him right here; they were trying to make Him king. You're most vulnerable when everything is going well. Spend some time in prayer. It's not during the trials; it's not during the hard times. It's during the abundance that we can be taken advantage of.

The Scripture goes on, and we read in the context of this the miracle of Jesus walking on the sea. There's a lot happening here. He tells the disciples to go to the other side. They go ahead, and He is still alone praying, and then He comes to meet them. As He's walking, it says the disciples were terrified as they're out there and the wind and the waves were blowing. Jesus was walking on the sea, and one of the passages says that He would have passed them by. They were afraid, and He said unto them, verse 20, "Don't be afraid." They willingly received Him into the ship. The Scripture says that then immediately the ship was on the other side. That would have been a ride! That's the fastest boat that's ever been on the planet. They've got some quick boats today. Did you ever watch those off-shore boats? Have you ever seen the big hydroplane boats, Miss Budweiser and some of those, with the big jet motors? Nothing, man! This little fishing boat would have blown their doors off! You can't get faster than "immediately." Now, do you believe that? Do you believe that the boat was in the middle and immediately was on the other side? I believe that. They didn't get whiplash. How could that happen? I don't know. I just know what "immediately" means, and I believe the Bible. "Well, you know, that means without any other obstruction and it means that it was the next occurrence in the events." No, it means immediately. What do you believe tonight? Are you going to let the Word speak for itself? Are you going to let God's invasion into the natural realm become common to you? Are you going to expect the miraculous? Are you going to look for the things that you can't explain to become a natural part of your life? Is your life filled with standing back, analyzing God? Are we looking and trying to comprehend, or are we looking to apprehend as in total simplicity we look to obey?

Now, Jesus gets to the other side. All the miracles had occurred, and they're over there at the other side in Capernaum. (Those of you that went with us to Israel, you know where Capernaum is. Your mind instantly goes back, and you see the little village there and all the places we were hanging out. We were there, and we understand what's taking place here.) The crowd comes around the lake, and they find Him. Verse 24 says that they came to Capernaum "seeking for Jesus." We have a room full of people here tonight seeking for Jesus. When they found Him, they said, "Rabbi, when did You come here?" (verse 25). "When you were trying to figure it out. When you were trying to figure out what I was doing. I walked on the water. I took a fast boat ride. I'm leaving on a jet plane." Look at it: "Rabbi, when camest thou hither?" That's not the question. The question is, "Why are you seeking Me?" It said he was seeking for Jesus, verse 24. He said, "You're not seeking Me because you've come to understand who I am, the Christ, the Son of the living God. Flesh and blood doesn't reveal that to you. You've come because you did eat the loaves and were filled," verse 26. The fact of the matter is so many that believe in Jesus are looking to have their stomachs filled, not necessarily with these natural loaves and fishes that He's talking about, but they're coming to Jesus for Him to do something for them. "Heal my scars. Make the pain go away. Put my family back together. Get me off these drugs. Help me to be free from this alcohol. Heal my body." He said, "You're looking to receive the benefits of God that are only available to those who will eat My flesh and drink My blood. You're coming to be fed with the children's meat, and I won't give it to dogs." What does it mean to believe?

As he goes on in this chapter, He tells us, He said, "You're not a believer if you won't eat My flesh and drink My blood." They said, "That's a hard saying." The Scripture tells us very clearly that many turned away and wouldn't follow Him after this saying. Was it because they thought He was teaching cannibalism? No. By the way, did Idi Amin die? How many of you knew he was sick? He and Brezhnev both had colds. Idi Amin is probably up there in the Top 10 of people who have killed Christians in the history of the church. That dude lived on to be almost like 80 years old. God's judgment didn't fall on him immediately. We seem to think that God is slack concerning His promises. He's not slack. How would you like to be that man today? God's timing is perfect; His ways are just; His mercy endures forever. I wonder if there was an opportunity for him to get saved after killing millions of Christians. What does it mean to believe? Who is it available to? He's not willing that any perish. Before we finish up tonight, we're going to show you that Idi Amin could have been saved after all that he had done. Paul was. We're so quick to believe that within our midst, even our own children, or in the community, or whatever, that the good children, the polite children, are going to be the ones that go on to serve God, the diligent ones. You can't judge anything in the natural. We're going to try to bring all of our natural perspective into this kingdom of the supernatural. Don't give up on the prodigal. Don't judge by the outward appearances. It's David; it's the little kid with the ruddy complexion that God has got His hand on. What does it mean to believe?

As Jesus is educating us on this subject here, He said, "Listen, you're following Me for your stomach's sake." "Labor [Look at verse 27. This is what it means.] not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed [approved, anointed]." Then the question was asked, "Well, what do we have to do to work the works of God?" Jesus said, "This is the work of God, that you [say it with me] believe on Him who He has sent." What is the work of God? It's not morality; it's not doctrinal purity. There are a lot of people that can spout the right doctrine that don't believe on Jesus. There are a lot of very moral people who won't bow their knees to His lordship. There are a lot of intellectuals who will not acknowledge that the Book that you hold is truth, inerrant. If you want to see the futility of education, just watch all of those Learning Channel things on Jesus. I mean, all of the information they have from archeological, historical resources, and spiritually they're not smart enough to come in out of the rain, straining at gnats and swallowing camels. You want to know the work of God? Believe on Him. "Well, what sign are You going to show us that we should believe? Our fathers ate manna that was sent from heaven in the desert, and that was a sign from God." Jesus said unto them, "I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven" (verse 32). Moses wasn't the origin of that manna. Don't look to men; men aren't your source. What does it mean to believe? It's not following mom and dad's footsteps; it's having your own personal relationship with Jesus. It's not just obeying mom and dad's commandments; it's obeying them because you have a relationship with God. You see, to obey mom and dad without the relationship to God is obedience for self-serving purposes. "It profits me to obey." It should glorify God for you to obey. That has to become the origin of everything that we do: the glory of God. That's what it means to believe. Is everything I'm doing, every decision I'm making, every moral decision, every relational type of a decision that I'm making, is it for the glory of God? Why do I respond to people with patience, compassion, with longsuffering? Does it make me feel better about myself? Is it a way of showing others my compassion so that other people will think well of me? Is it the glory of God? Do you take pride in the fact that maybe you're a little more compassionate, a little more longsuffering, or does God get the glory?

Watch what Jesus goes on to say. He says, "Wait a minute. Moses isn't the focal point here. God is the author of the manna. Moses was the gift of God, the servant that I had sent forth. He's the one that led you into the wilderness, the one that you murmured against. I'm that bread." He says, verse 35, "I am the bread of life." "Everything that has come from God is symbolic of My visitation in your life. Believe on Me whom God has sent." What does it mean to believe? Everything that has happened in my life to this point is to introduce me to His lordship. "But I'm already born again!" Is He Lord of this situation that you're in right now? How are you doing today? Do any of you have any decisions to make? Are you confident in your own ability to make the decision? Are you confident in your own strength to pull it off? The investment you're getting ready to make, do you have sufficient resources, or is God the source and is God the purpose? Why are you doing what you're doing? What does it mean to believe? How does this affect the kingdom of God? What are the eternal consequences to the action that I'm about to involve myself in?

"I am the bread of God which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Now listen to their response. They said, "Whoa, Jack! Lord, evermore give us this bread." Jesus already did this when He was at the well, didn't He? "Those that drink of this water, they'll never thirst again. Lord, that's what we want. We don't want to have to come down and labor and draw any more water out of this thing. You mean if I drink of this, I'll never get thirsty again? Let me have that water!" "You don't understand what I'm saying to you. My presence [What does it mean to believe?] will satisfy all of your longings. You won't hunger for anything else." You don't need the bigger, the better, the more, the person, the thing. What does it mean to believe? "I'm the bread. I satisfy. I provide all of the nutrition. I provide all of the satisfaction. I am the total source of your sustenance. If you don't eat My flesh and drink My blood, you don't have anything to do with Me." What does it mean to believe? To be emptied totally of any self-sufficiency, of all ambition, of all glory seeking, and be satisfied (verse 35). You'll never hunger again. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." This is God's will.

Tragically, we have young people here, teenagers, young adults. You've sat here; you've heard the Word of God; you've been instructed in the way. There has been pressure that's been put on you to hold you into a certain environment, a restraint for your flesh, but just like the utterance that came tonight--what a blessing to hear some of our young people being used in the gifts of the Spirit, a second generation flowing in the gifts of the Spirit. But the Lord says, "Look, don't draw nigh unto Me with your lips and your heart is far from Me. I'm not looking for the fat of your verbal offerings; I'm looking for your obedience. I'm looking for a heart that does right because you want to do right because it brings glory to Me, not because there's a consequence: 'If I do that, somebody will find out; somebody will come and rebuke me.'" If the sole motivation is not the glory of God, you don't believe on Him. If you're distracted and attracted, and there's something out there that you think you just can't do without, He's not the bread of life to you; you're not satisfied. You're seeking your own will. You're seeking your own way. "I Am all that there is to God's resources for you, everything that pertains to life and godliness [as we heard in the utterance tonight] has already been given to us [or in the prayer]."

We'll finish up with this for tonight. Look at verse 43. The Jews began to murmur. "Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." You can't believe on your own. You can't choose to believe; you have to be chosen. But He's not willing that any should perish. Every one of us has the same opportunity to believe, but you can't believe on your terms. You can't believe when you want to. Today is the day of your salvation. What are you going to do with Jesus tonight? Who is He in your life tonight? Are you going to casually blow it off again? You've heard it so many times; it's so common to you as you've sat in this environment. He doesn't always strive. You can't come when you want; you must be drawn. He goes on and He says this very clearly to us, verse 47, "He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." Is life eternal abiding in you tonight? "Well, I hope so." It's not, because "the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God." If He's inside you, you know that you believe. You have the assurance that none will ever pluck you from His hand. "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Tim 1:11). I embrace those things that were written that I might believe on this name of the Son of God. "These signs shall follow them that believe in my name. They shall." and I do. Do you believe tonight? "I am that bread of life," verse 48. Here's the kicker as we finish up, verse 53: "[Truly] I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." What does it mean? We had communion here and partook of the emblems, recognizing the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus. What does it mean to eat His body and drink His blood?

Pastor Gardner was saying just the other day he was a little bit concerned as some of the young people--and it goes along with youth. It's not like a major concern; it just shows adolescence. It's something spiritually, not just chronologically, there's an adolescent mentality in many of our spiritual walks. There was a service given not too long ago that we didn't all partake together, that the emblems were provided and you could take some time, get yourself apart, and partake when you wanted. A number of the young people said, "I really liked that because it gave me time just to prepare to partake." Steve's response was, "Well, how many of you were in the Sunday morning service?" They said, "Yeah, we were." He said, "How many of you saw that sitting up there?" "Well, yeah." "So what happened between noon and seven o'clock? How much preparation time do you need?" Do we put off the things of God till the last moment? Are we occupied by everything around us that's so mundane? Is the partaking of this eternal life scheduled into a religious time frame? The "eating and drinking unworthily" of His body is what's done between noon and seven, the choices to vaunt our own will and our own way and to fail to recognize the wooing of His Spirit, caught up in all of the cares. I was telling him that we're living in a world when everything is so immediate. We're always just taken up with the moment and all of the intrusion into our consciousnesses. Our lives are so cluttered that we don't have time to be quiet and hear from God.

One of my newest pet peeves, the cell phones are just starting to drive me crazy. I was telling somebody just the other day, "You know what really ticks me off?" I have time for one pet peeve; let me share. This really ticks me off. I'm sitting here talking to somebody--ring! "Hello?" Hey, what happened to me? What made that person become more important than me? Because that stupid thing rang? What's that all about? How many balls are we going to have in the air, this juggling act? We're just invaded with information intrusions to where we can't even meditate on the things of God anymore. We can't get quiet. People can't drive a quarter of a mile down the road alone. They have to have somebody on the phone. I think people talking on cell phones ought to be arrested; their car impounded, burnt; and them beaten; and their phone personally delivered to me to destroy. I only say that because in the last thirty days, I've been run off the road at least three times by people talking on cell phones and didn't even know I was there. It's getting stupid! We don't have to prepare anymore. We don't have to make preparation. We don't have to think ahead because we just run out of there, call somebody, and have them do that, bring that. We've lost the disciplines of foresight and preparation, patience. Oh, I'm not guiltless. I don't carry one; I just tell everybody around me, "Call them. Do that." I'm not guiltless, but what about in our spiritual lives, the ability to look ahead, to prepare, to discipline ourselves, to see what's coming ahead and make preparation for that?

It's getting late. Let me finish with this last thought, because this is so important, that you understand what it means to eat His flesh and drink His blood. In verse 63, He tells what that means. The people are murmuring. "Does my statement offend you?" He says in verse 61. "What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? [He's saying, "You're going to see that. I'm going to rise from the dead; I'm going to ascend, but I'm going to send the Holy Spirit to be your comforter, to abide in you, to bring everything that I said to your remembrance."] It is the spirit that [makes alive]; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words [Look at it.] that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." He answers right there what it means to eat His flesh and drink His blood: to be indwelt by His Spirit and to acknowledge His commandments as truth, the Word of God as your only source of wisdom, of strength, of power, of direction. He said, "If that's not it, if your life is not empowered by the Spirit and your steps aren't being ordered by the illumination of My Word that's a lamp unto your feet, you don't believe in Me. If you're trusting into the natural realm and not solely depending upon the supernatural, you don't believe. You're just like the rest of the Gentiles: you're taking thought for tomorrow. You're taking care for the things that you can eat and what you're going to be clothed with. The Gentiles do that, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all of these other things will be added unto you." There's a peace that belongs to the people of God. There's a rest to the people of God, when you cease from your own labors and believe that what God said is truth and His Word will not pass away, to believe that He is and that He's a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him.

Father, we thank You for Your Word tonight. There are so many levels of belief and only one brings eternal life. There's the historical, the intellectual, the religious belief, and all of those are death. The academic belief, it's death, the religious belief, whether it be the Sunday School version or the Catechism version. "Who am I? If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you can ask what you will and it will be done unto you." What are you asking? Are you changing? Are you more like Him today? Are the worldly things becoming dimmer, the spiritual things becoming brighter, becoming the treasure? As Chuck was saying tonight, do you delight in the way, the path of the cross? Is it a privilege to empty everything that you might purchase the pearl of great price? Is He the bread, that total sufficiency? Are you satisfied tonight? Are you satisfied? Is there anything else you need? Not if you believe, because He has already provided eternal life. That's not longevity. Eternal life is not talking about how long it is; it's talking about how complete it is, how complete. Eternal life is totally fulfilled, complete. He is the sufficiency. "I am the bread of life. No one can come to the Father but by Me."

Let's stand tonight before Him and thank Him for what He's doing in our lives. What does it mean to believe? "These signs shall follow them that believe." What does it mean to believe? These believers shall follow Him, eat His flesh, and drink His blood, the total sufficiency. What does it mean to believe? To be totally dependent and totally involved in service. He's the sufficiency of our lives, and we pour our lives out for Him. That's what it means to believe. As Gary plays for us, and the Holy Spirit speaks to us this evening, a lot of people have come to be healed. A lot of people have come to eat the bread, get their stomachs full. A lot of people have come to have their ears tickled and hear some new doctrine. Not that many want to volunteer to be crucified, to eat His flesh and drink His blood. Not too many want to identify with Him in His death, but He says, "If you don't, you won't know the power of My resurrection."

Let's sing it together and just rejoice in His goodness. "Turn your eyes upon Jesus/Look full in His wonderful face" Sing it one more time and just get a glimpse of Him. Lord, make Yourself known to us. As we feast upon Your Word, cause it to become alive to us. Help us to be quiet enough to hear, "This is the way; walk in it." Draw us, because no man can come without that wooing. Let Your Word entice us. Let it be sufficient. Let it satisfy us that we don't look to any other source. Let us eat, and in our satisfaction, declare Your lordship and be empowered to serve. Lord, I believe; help my unbelief. Be glorified in our lives, we ask Father, in Jesus' name, amen. Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "All things are possible to he that believeth."

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