Do Americans have a comfortable gospel, compared to the rest of the world? Lack of hunger for the things of God is an early warning signal of a Christian life that is not reaching its full potential. You should have an appetite for His things. You should have a craving for His Word. You should have a strong desire for His Presence. You should have an intensity about you to do His will. You should have a zeal to know Him better.

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Episode Notes

Spiritual Hunger for God

DEFINITION: hunger – A state of emptiness, reflecting a lack of physical or spiritual food.

Acts 17:11 (ESV)
11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

• Do you see the hunger in these believers in Berea?
• Do you also see that the believers in Thessalonica did not have that hunger to the same degree?
• Which kind of believer do you aspire to be?

Jesus Upends the Multitude

John 6:27 (ESV)
27 Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

• Jesus said, ‘Don’t labor for the food that perishes.

QUESTION: What was the crowd really looking for?  What was their real purpose in tracking Jesus down?

• The crowd’s real purpose was being driven by hunger.

John 6:26 (ESV)
26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

• Why didn’t Jesus answer the question, ‘when did you get here’?
• Jesus puts His finger on that with His response, ‘You are not seeking me for the right reason.”

John 6:25 (ESV)
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”

• Jesus proceeds to not answer this question from the multitude.

John 6:22, 24
22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.
24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

• The crowd that was fed by Jesus comes looking for Jesus.

Recap of John 6

• What’s going on here, in these first 15 verses?
• Jesus is feeding the 5000.
• Jesus is walking on water.
• The statement in John 6:27 is really about  priorities, about putting the Word first in your life.
• The stuff that deals with eternal life should come first in your life.
• How do the people respond to that?  What was their reply to Jesus statement ‘don’t labor for the food that perishes’?

John 6:28 (ESV)
28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”

• The crowd tries to ask another question and goes the spiritual route with Jesus.
• Translating the crowds intent, though, into 21st century language, ‘Jesus, show us how to do the works of God; show us how to do that multiplying the food trick!’
• Jesus proceeds to not answer the real motive of that question either!

John 6:29 (ESV)
29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

• He answered the second question, ‘show us how to do the works of God, the multiplying trick’ by addressing the issue of believing.
• So the people try yet another way

John 6:30-31 (ESV)
30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

• “Jesus what sign do you do?”
• The people are again implying, “If we have a choice of signs, how about that quick meal sign? Our Fathers ate manna in the wilderness supernaturally. How about doing that one?”
• Jesus doesn’t respond to the real intent of that question either.

John 6:32–33 (ESV)
32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

• The conversation is obviously on two different planes.
• The people are down here with food on their mind and Jesus is up here trying to pull the people’s thinking up to heaven’s level.
• The people are talking about a loaf of bread and Jesus is talking about the Bread of Life, the Word of God.
• If there is no movement, if there is no growth in your life, what do you really have?
• You cannot sit and listen and grow.
• You have to get up and walk and move.

The Bread of Life Statement

John 6:35 (ESV)
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

• What’s the main reason for detailing this back and forth conversation between Jesus and the people?
• What caused these people to get on a boat, cross the sea, track down Jesus and coax Him and prod Him and push Him to do the same miracle He did the day before?
• One word – HUNGER!

Hunger Drives Everything!

• It wasn’t those people that drove that boat across the sea – it was hunger that drove it – hunger drove the boat!!!
• You get a man hungry enough and you’ll get all kinds of things out of him.  You’ll get all kinds of action.

Hunger Drives Everything:  It Is King In All Realms.

• That’s why Jesus addressed it so much – “you seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you”.
• All over the planet today, people day are taking boat trips chasing after food!
• Hunger is the captain of their ship!
• All the while that the business of planet earth churns and churns, Jesus is yet saying ‘I AM the Bread of Life.’

Hunger in the Higher Plane or the Spiritual Dimension

Matt. 5:6 (ESV)
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

• If you hunger, you shall be filled.
• How do you satisfy a hungry man?
• There is only one way; give him what he is hungry for!
• According to Jesus if I am hungry enough, I will get the thing that I am hungering for.
• Work on the hungering part not the receiving part!
• Hunger supplies the added motivation for you to get the thing you need.
• You will turn the world upside down if you are hungry.

The Story of Azusa

• Have you ever seen a picture of the church at Azusa?
• Here is a question ‘Would you attend this church, looking as shabby as it looked?”
• There was just an incredibly deep Holy Ghost presence; it saturated the place for over 7 years.
• People got healed left and right of all kind of things; there was no struggle getting people healed; it was easy.
• People came from all over the world but the core membership of that church was only 50 people, but in any given service there was anywhere from 300 to 1500 people who sat in those services.
• They got healed.
• They got filled with Holy Ghost and took that presence and the baptism of the Holy Ghost, largely unknown in the church at that time, everywhere.
• The reason why Pentecostals are the fastest growing arm of the church for decades is because a small group of people got really hungry for God.
• The reason why we all enjoy the baptism of the Holy Ghost today with the evidence of speaking in tongues all has its roots in a small group of people that got hungry for God – they got hungry for the Bread of Life.
• Every spirit filled person has roots back to Azusa.

Episode Resources

You can find more information on this subject by clicking on these links.

1. Are You Depending on God?
2. Are You Willing to Give Jesus Everything?
3. Platt, David. 2010. Radical. Colorado Springs, Colorado: Multnomah Books.

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