Paul Martinez - The Miracle of Faith

Sunday, January 18,2026 - Paul shares about following the Lord even when you aren't "feeling" Him closely or experiencing challenge/doubt and the miracle gift of the Holy Spirit who moves us towards faith in Christ even when we don't understand. "What is in your heart? Do you love Me?" 

References: Isaiah 6, 2 Chronicles 32:24, 2 Kings 20:1-21, John 6, Luke 11, Luke 12

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

In Jesus' name. If you agree, just say shout an amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. As we continue, we're not going to break away from God's presence in this room. We're just going to transition. Thank you, Zachalisa. Great job today. Thank you for leading us in his presence. I'm thrilled to have Paul Martinez come and share the word with us. While he's coming, I just want to remind you that next Sunday we are going to uh tackle the questions that God is inviting us into together. And um if you haven't taken some time with the Lord this week, please do so. There's some there's some of the questions. There's basically five questions equaling ten um on on that table there. And we're gonna break them open next week as a family, as a community, and just see what God's saying to each other. We want to hear what God's saying to you, and um it's all in the flow of what God's doing. And I know Paul has got some great things to bring today, and um, I just want to say, brother, we receive you. We receive who you are, we receive the gift of God in you, um, and your anointing, and uh, we we just say I say get I give you permission to just be everything God made you to be. Um, do you agree with me? All right, thank you, Jesus, for Paul. Come on.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

I love you. Yeah. Thank you, guys. And it's an honor and a privilege, and I'll I'll share a lot about that because being with RC and Sandra and Mark and Shelly, and being at the place where I am with Jordan and Elise, it's something God has been doing. It's like He's been in my life for a long time, but being around these people and being here with you all has been a homecoming of sorts, has been a welcoming, it has been a refreshing, it has been so many things, and it's all it's all because of Jesus. And while we were singing and worshiping our Lord, like I felt like we entered into worship, and like there's a difference to me. There's thanksgiving, there's acknowledging, and there's gratitude, and that's like we open the gates and we enter into the heavenly realm that way. But then it turns into this praise, it turns into like who he is and what he does. But then that I felt like what we were in today was worship, it's adoration, it's just reveling in the presence of who he is, and not necessarily praising him for what he's done, but just loving him for who he is. So, anyway, that was that was something that came to my mind today was I didn't like church people and I didn't like being in the church growing up, and it's a really a testament to my savior, my God and his power that has I would rather be, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I want to be with the people that know his voice. I want to be with the people that know what it is that I'm going through because the world doesn't understand, and it's a lonely feeling. And there's this feeling that we get when we come together and we're like, here's another one who knows my Lord. Here's another one who understands what it's like. I used to be a rebel. I hated our government, I hated hypocrites, I hated oppression, and I felt like I had a real keen eye for hypocrisy and justice, and that I knew better. And I didn't like the music in the church. The music sucked to me, and it didn't usher me into the presence of God, and I resisted that and I was not open to that, but his voice called me, his spirit reached me, and I all of you have a testimony of that, and maybe you're still coming to that. Maybe he's still forging his testimony in you. I never assume. So I was called during a sermon. So there's something very special about preaching to me. It's foolishness. Someone getting up in orator and like, uh, is this coming down for past down? How'd that come down to the church? Didn't they just gather in homes and share the word and eat meals together and welcome his presence in their midst? But yet I was touched through a pastor's words, and I wept at the altar, and I received his lordship in my life to go, you show me the better way. I'm done with um the self-determinism. You know, R. C. preached a couple of weeks ago now about other gods, and we talked about it in the office, and I got his notes, and I was reading through it, and they're still at work, heavenly authorities and principalities and powers in the heavenly realms, and they manifest in thoughts. Self-determinism is the oldest fruit in the garden that Adam and Eve ate. Choose what is right and wrong for you. You decide how you will live your life. That is the wisdom of this age. And that is the God that I said I will no longer serve when I came to him. It was no longer my own opinion about how this government was being run. It was no longer my opinion about what the music was supposed to sound like. It was just receive, die to yourself, follow your Lord, whose voice is life. Let him do the work. If there's anything he has put in me, it is his spirit to be a witness of him in me. That is why the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost. He didn't say, I'm going to empower you to be powerful revolutionaries, to upend the Roman government, and to champion the kingdom of Jerusalem in this age for you Jews. No. He said, I'm empowering you to be my witness of who I am in you. That is impossible. I can't go to anyone on this street in my own strength and tell them about Christ and have them impacted and have them understand that there's a being who lived and was born on this earth, came in the flesh, lived as a man, born of a virgin, died for three days, resurrected, and then ascended into heaven. That's absurd. But by the power of the Holy Spirit, he draws the ones that are his. They hear his voice and he draws them. That was what I felt and what I've been longing to understand ever since that happened to me. It's what I ached for. It was why I was willing to die to myself and show up at church and show up at Bible studies where he told me there were people that I hated there in my flesh. I didn't know I was a new creation that had love for everybody. You love. That is not your identity that you hate, that you separate, that you divide. That is not your identity that I have put in you. It is to bring unity. I didn't understand that. But as I continued to yield and die, there was a transformation that happened in my mind. And it was really good. It was really good. It's still happening, by the way, and it's not done. So this is an honor and a privilege to get to witness to you about the work that he has done in my life and that he is real beyond compare. Because I don't care about the things that I used to care about, and that to me is a miracle. That to me is a miracle. There were things that I swore I would never give up, that I would never lose, would never lose my self-digity to take a punch in the face and not retaliate. I died to that. His power has shown me that, yes, indeed, I actually have, and I will continue, and I will turn the other cheek. That is the power of my God. Do you think any one of you can do that? That is absurd. Nobody in their right mind is gonna let someone lay hands on them unless the Lord is with you and He is commanding you and giving you the power and the strength to do so. That is my witness before you today of God in my life, of Christ's work, that he is Lord above all that I have. And it's continuing to do that with my family, with my life, with my finances. You know, this new year, he told us we can't walk in the old wineskin. Me and my wife sitting there, you can't walk in that. I'm pouring out something new. There's old things that I'd given you and that were good and that housed something, you can't walk in it anymore. And it just feels like you lost your right arm. I don't know how to do that. Yeah. Do you know how to trust on me? Do you remember trusting me? Okay, fine. Um, yep. Never done with that. So luckily I wrote I wrote a lot of it down because I don't have that kind of memory. Um I do feel like he gave me a word. Um and he reminded me of words that have been spoken here. One thing that the Lord has like given me as a treasure in my heart is valuing the things that he has said and not just stepping past it like, cool, you said that. Awesome. Okay, cool, you're saying this. What are you saying next? Now what are you saying? It's like look at what I said. I said something here, and it has to do with this. One of the house um missionaries here, Anna from YWAM, spoke a word earlier last or later last year about being a peacemaker. And the Lord was reminding me about that. He reminded me that when she spoke this word, here because this is where he's put me now. And he's telling me 10 of the words that are here. She said, The minute you give up your or the minute you choose a side, you give up your right to be a peacemaker in the kingdom. The minute you choose, I'm locked in with this in the world. I'm locked in with this, and I'm not with them, and I'm not with them. Who was with Jesus? Who is with him when he stood before Pilate? Were the zealots with Jesus? The radical ones who wanted to overthrow the Roman Empire? No, they were gone. Where were the religious zealots? The ones that wanted to spread Torah and put yokes on people. They were shouting, crucify him. Who is with my God?

SPEAKER_01 11:06

I don't care whose side you're on out there. Let it go. Seek him. It used to be so important to me.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

Paul said it's all crap. And he's, I looked this up in the Greek. He said the vulgar term. He cussed in his letter. I won't do that because my daughters don't like it when I do that. But I have no problem doing that.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Oh God, my God. It's been on my heart. It's literally been like something that has like been pressing into me.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

I'm like, who's on God's side? Who's on Jesus? Something's rising up. Send me. Jesus, send me. I'm tired of waiting for people that I love and for people that I've spoken to and said, no, no, it's this. And I'm I'm trying to convince you. And if you're not gonna choose it, then then I'll go. Forget it. Send me, Lord. That's in Isaiah 6, by the way. He was a man of unclean lips. And he said, Send me. The story that he gave me, and you can write these down if you want the verses. It's 2 Chronicles and 2 Kings. 2 Chronicles chapter 32, verse 24, and 2 Kings 20, verse 1 and 21. 1 through 21. It's a long story. I'll summarize it. But that's where they are. And uh this is about King Hezekiah. He's 11 generations from David. King David and Solomon. The height of the empire of Israel, they will never be greater than they are right now. They're at the top. Other nations are looking to them, they're fulfilling their purpose of being the light on the hill and exemplifying what a nation under the Lord should be like under David and Solomon. For a while, I understand that Solomon had a fall. But they were so intertwined with the kingdom that there's a story that the queen of Sheba came to see Solomon's glory, and she got converted to Yahwehism just because of his servant's dress and the way they set the table. There is something about what they were carrying that was attractive. They said that there was no greater store of riches ever given in the kingdom's history of Jerusalem than the Queen of Sheba gave to Solomon. There was something that causes the beauty of the Lord that causes the nations of the earth to stream towards it and give them the wealth. So here's Hezekiah 11 generations later, and he's sick. He's on his deathbed. He's not getting any better. And the prophet Isaiah, so you can read about these stories in Isaiah, 2 Kings and 2nd Chronicles. So, in those days, Hezekiah was sick and he was near death, and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos, went to him and he said to him, Thus says the Lord, set your house in order. You will die and you will not live. Alright? That's the word of the prophet Isaiah. That guy ended his ministry well. He was not a false prophet. That guy gave us the prophecy, uh, Isaiah 53. It's the forbidden chapter in the Torah. They don't even let Jewish people read it because if they did, they would see that it is clearly Jesus. I mean, they could call it the gospel of Isaiah. And um, 700 years before Christ. He gives this word, you're gonna die and not live. That's the word of the Lord. It's over, you're done. Well, what does Hezekiah do? He turned his face toward the wall and he prayed to the Lord, saying, Remember now, O Lord, I pray. How I have walked before you in truth with a loyal heart, I've done what is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And I it wasn't that long because the prophet Isaiah didn't even get out of the of the palace. He wasn't even able to walk out before the Lord came to Isaiah and he gave him another word. He says, Return and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears, surely I will heal you. The word of the Lord said he would die. The word of the Lord said he would live. There's an interaction between heaven and earth going on. On the third day, you will go up to the house of the Lord, and I will add of your days fifteen years. I have delivered you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David. He's saying, I will have you will have peace in your time. There's not going to be war, and there's not going to be a problem, and you're going to have fifteen more years. I heard you. And then he gives them a sign. This is incredible. Isaiah says, Take a lump of figs. So they took it, laid it on the boil, and he recovered. And then Hezekiah said, What is the sign? What's the sign that you will heal me? Bro, calm down, dude. The word of the Lord says you're gonna be healed, and I put a boy a fig on you, and you're healed. Well, what is the sign? This is a Jewish thing, and we're gonna read in John where this comes into play with the Jewish people in Jesus. And he says, This is the sign. So he doesn't get mad at him. He's like, Alright, here's the sign. There's a sundial. There's a sundial in the palace, and it's a it's a staircase. And they can tell the time by the shadow of the sun. And when the shadow moves forward, they know what hour of the day it is by the steps of the shadow. And he goes, Do you want the shadow to move forward or do you want it to move backward? And King Hezekiah, you know, is like, Well, uh, it's easy for the clock to go forward, so why don't you make it go backwards? And so Isaiah says, All right, that's fine. Here's the sign the shadow will go backwards, 10 degrees. I don't know if that's 10 minutes or 10 hours. So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the Lord and he brought the shadow 10 degrees back. I would love to know what Isaiah cried out. Does anyone want to know? Like it just says he cried out. I want to know what he cried out. Not to repeat a repetitive prayer, but like, what was that like? So we got down and the clock moved back 10 degrees. That's insane. Miracle of miracles. All right. All right. That's the long version. There's something that happens after this. The king of Babylon, not yet an antagonist outright against Israel, hears about Hezekiah's sickness and he sends two envoys to him, two ambassadors. Hey, how are you? They're inquiring about his health. Are you okay? And he's like, Yes, the Lord has healed me. It's amazing. Let me show you everything that I have and how the Lord has blessed me. Take a look in my treasuries. Look at this. Look at my granaries. He showed them, it says he did not withhold his hand from showing them every single blessing and benefit that he had ever had in his kingdom. Alright. So Hezekiah. So then Isaiah the prophet went to the king and he said to him, Hey, what did these ambassadors from Babylon come and say to you? And Hezekiah says, Well, they came from a far country, Babylon. Well, they've seen my house. Um, and he says, They've seen all of it. There is nothing in my treasuries that I have not shown them. And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord. The days are coming when all that is in your house and what your fathers have accumulated even until this day is now going to be carried into Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And they shall take away some of your sons and your descendants from you, whom you will beget, and they will be eunuchs. They're going to get castrated in the palaces of Babylon. And so Hezekiah, what does he do? Does he turn his face towards the wall? Does he weep bitterly? He apathetically says, The word of the Lord which you've spoken sounds good. Because there's going to be peace and truth at least in my day. Wow, where did his heart of intercession go? Righteousness for himself profited him himself. Righteousness for the rest of the generations out there didn't have it. Alright. And just to show you, I'm not being hard on old King Hezekiah, you can go and hear the interpretation from Scripture itself in 2 Chronicles 32-24, and it's very short. And it says, In those days Hezekiah was sick, near death, he prayed to the Lord, he spoke, gave him a sign, and Hezekiah, but Hezekiah did not repay the Lord according to the favor that was shown to him. For his heart was lifted up with pride. Therefore, wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah humbled himself for his pride of his heart and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon him in his day. But Hezekiah having great riches and precious stones and spices of all kinds that were desirable, having storehouses and flocks, yeah, possessions, flocks of abundance, that God had given him much property. This Hezekiah showed regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, whom they sent to inquire of him and wonder what was done in the land. So God withdrew from him in order to test him that he might know all that was in Hezekiah's heart. So the presence of the Lord left Hezekiah. He goes, Man, have you guys okay? I'll say it this way I have felt the hand and the power of God powerfully on my life, where I had no fear, no doubt. He's walking with me, lock step. And it's the best thing in the world. And then it's just like, and I'm like, oh, what happened? Where did you go? God, I can't do this without you. I believe that's the right response. But when it's like, ah, there's the presence of the Lord, but I'm still the man, I'm still anointed, I still got it, that's what happened to Hezekiah. That's the test of the heart. Sometimes I thought that the with removal of his presence and not feeling that tangible, like glowing fire, the love, the peace that surpasses all understanding was a critique on my own sin or my own misstep or my own mistake. And I don't think that that's what God was doing with Hezekiah. He was just like, You love me, right? I just want to see. I want to see. It's so easy when I'm present with you. What does Jesus tell us in the parable of the servants who don't know when their master will return? He says, There's a servant who doesn't know the hour of his master's return. So he was foolish and he beat the other servants and he treated them harshly. What do you think the master of the house will do when he comes home to that servant? He should have known to have his master's heart, even when he wasn't present with him. That is the word God is speaking to me right now. Just because you don't feel me right now, on your hands, people aren't getting healed the minute you lay hands on them. What is in your heart? Do you love me? So I'll just submit that. The main meat of this, where I want to feel the suffering of our God and our Savior in his loneliness, where he's calling us to be like fellowship here. Fellowship right here. This is where I was reading in John chapter 6. And this is uh this is the end of it. So to wrap up the past, the Lord withdrew his presence after he'd already rechanged, changed a verdict of death to added life to Hezekiah to test his heart. When that verdict came, that the children of Hezekiah would be captive of Babylon. The king, instead of weeping as he had for himself over his imminent death, didn't care one bit for the harsh reality awaiting his children because of his own actions. No, no prayer of repentance, no intercession, just apathetic acceptance of the revelation that Babylon would take down the kingdom of his forefathers, David and Solomon, by the enable Yeah. Dude, just take it all away. Righteousness for our own sake benefits only ourselves, while righteousness on behalf of others preserves legacy and future generations to the glory of God. This is what Yahweh is actually longing for. I've been looking and searching the scriptures lately just for his will and his kingdom. I'm like, there's something about his kingdom and his will. Like, what is his kingdom? What is his will? Me and me and Mark have actually been having a lot of conversations last year about the kingdom. Like, what is the kingdom of heaven? Like, you know, what are the road signs? What are the the laws of the kingdom? Like, what's the food of the kingdom? Where are the restaurants of the kingdom? It's like imagine a realm, an atmosphere that is not like this atmosphere. We know this atmosphere. It's really apparent. You walk into a party, you walk into a room, you know if the host is hosting a certain way, or if there's a certain um social cues and um faux pas and things you do and you don't do. It's just unspoken. A lot of life is unspoken. You just know it. It's an atmosphere, it's a kingdom, it's a realm. You know what to talk about, what's okay and what isn't, right? Well, there's something about the kingdom of heaven. Jesus saying, hey, if a demon has been cast out of you, the finger of God has has drawn near to you, and the kingdom of heaven has come upon you. Demons coming out of people is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus says in uh Luke 11 and in Luke 12, your heavenly father longs to give you the kingdom. Then he says in Luke 12, your father longs to give you the Holy Spirit. Why? What is it all about? What is this kingdom? How did he transform me? So what is he transforming me into? Why do I love worship's music now? I can't get enough of it. Why did that change from this type of music? What is he doing this for? What is the purpose? Is it for me to benefit myself with my own righteousness? To whom much is given, much is required. John chapter six. I'll let his words speak. It's so much better than mine. This is really good. Alright. John chapter six. Alright, he's by the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Tiberias. There's a great multitude that began to follow him, and because they saw his signs which he performed on those who were diseased, and Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. So they're drawn to him because of healings, because of miracles. Now the Passover feast of the Jews was near, and Jesus lifted up his eyes and he saw this great multitude coming towards him, and he says to Philip, in order to test him, right? Where shall we buy bread that these may eat? I mean, if you want to feel the presence of God, leave you really quick. Just look out at 5,000 people and have God ask you, like, how hey, just feed them. Just feed all these people.

unknown 28:08

What are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 28:10

A lot of you have felt that. That's a real feeling. Go talk to that homeless person. Go tell that lady in the supermarket something. I want you to. Spirit of God is gone. That's not God. I'm insane. That's the only answer. So that's what he's doing to Philip. He's like, hey, where are you gonna buy bread for all these people, Philip? Hey, God, did you know that like seven years worth of wages isn't even gonna be enough to feed all of these people? And so then Andrew, hey, I love Andrew's faith, man. Andrew's like the only one, the first apostle, right? The first guy to like follow Jesus is like, hey, we have two fish, five loaves, man. That's not enough. I know it's not enough. I'm so stupid for even saying that. Anyway, just thought I'd say. But Jesus is okay with what you have. I just want to let you know he's okay with what you have. Give it to him. Give him the little that you have. You're not qualified, just get over it. It's fine. I had to reckon with the fact that I am not qualified. I am in my own head, I know all the things about my head, my earthly conditioning that don't stack up in the heavenly realm. I'm very acutely aware of it. Yeah, you're never gonna measure up. But give him what you have, and I guarantee you he's gonna multiply it. So Philip, okay, so then here is Andrew. And he goes, All right, I like that, Andrew. He didn't say that. I added that. Make the people sit down. Now, there was a lot of grass in this place, so all of the men were sitting down in the number of about 5,000. And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks and the dis uh distributed when he had given thanks, he distributed them to the disciples and the disciples to those sitting down. There's an order of the kingdom. You have to get it from Jesus in order to give it away. So this is the kingdom. I'm just I was so immersed in asking, like, what is the kingdom? I just want you to know that's the framework I'm speaking out of. We have to get it from Jesus to get it, give it away. You can't get it from Chat GPT, you can't get it from some other sermon. You have to get it from Jesus.

unknown 30:39

Come on.

SPEAKER_02 30:40

And likewise the fish. So when they were filled, he said to his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain so nothing's lost. Therefore they gathered up, and there were twelve baskets full of fragments, five barley loaves, from the five barley loaves and two fish. Alright. So we're gonna skip ahead because Jesus leaves at this point. They want to make him king. He perceived that they were about to come, take him by force and make him king. Wouldn't that be great? You have to know your calling and your assignment. He was the king, he was anointed. But no, not like this, not with self-determination, not with the way mankind thinks. Oh, well, if there's a messiah, he'd look like Neo from the Matrix and he would kill Agent Smith. And of course, this is what would happen because that's the way that it happens. Know your assignment in the kingdom. Get on your face before Jesus and know who you are and whose you are. That will help you know that when people want to lift you up and say, This is what, dude, man, bro, wow, you, man, you, they're like, No, it ain't like that. That's not why I'm here. That's why Jesus goes away by himself. So the disciples get into it over the lake, and Jesus comes to them in the boat, walks on water, they get to the other side. I want to focus on the reactions of the Jews because this is about the testing of the heart that Hezekiah went through and the seeking of a sign. So the bread from heaven. On the following day, when all of the people that had eaten the bread were standing on that side of the sea, and they saw that there was no boats there, that the disciples were gone, and that Jesus was gone, they found him on the then they went and found him on the other side of the sea, and they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? Where have we been, dude? We loved the bread. What's up? And Jesus said to them, Most assuredly I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and you were filled. You got your needs met, didn't you? You went to church and they clothed you. They helped you. You got back up on your feet, didn't you? And you keep coming, and it's good, and it feels nice. Because you got your needs met. Do you believe in who I am? Don't labor for the food that perishes in this life. Health is fleeting. We're all gonna die one day. But the food which endures to everlasting life, which comes from the Son of Man, he will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him. And they are saying to him, Well, what shall we do that we may work the works of God? You know, all right, give and take, man. You're calling us out. What can we do? Therefore he said to him, or they said, What is this? No, I'm sorry, skipping ahead. They said to him, What shall we do that we may work the works of God? And Jesus answers and says to them, This is the work of God. Here it is. You ready? Does anyone know the work of God, by the way? What is it? Love. What? Yep. I bet a lot of people try to do that in their own strength. Check this out. This is the will, this is the work of God. This is how you know he's working. That you believe in him whom he sent. If you don't believe in him whom he sent, all that good stuff that you're feeling, all that wonderful little happy joy feelings, it's just wetting your appetite and you haven't got all the way to the main course. Jesus is saying, you got filled, you got your needs met with bread, but you're hungry in your flesh. I want you to be hungry in the spirit. Therefore, he said, they said this to him. Well, what is the sign? This is a Jewish thing I'm seeing. The king of Israel, well, what's the sign? He was already healed, right? Remember Hezekiah? You're healed. Well, what's the sign? Alright, well, it's gonna move backwards 10 degrees if you want. Oh, yeah, I want that. They said to him, Well, what is the sign that you're gonna perform that we may see it and believe in you? Didn't they already believe in him? They're following him because they said that he was the prophet. Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus said, they said, This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world before Jesus went to the other side of the sea, verse 14. Now they're saying, Well, what is the sign that you're gonna show us? That we will believe. What work will you do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert, as it was written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. They're still hungry, they're still wanting bread. Then Jesus said, Most assuredly, and he's obliging them. I'm telling you the truth. Moses didn't give you the bread from heaven. My father gives you the bread from heaven. The bread from heaven is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. You just look around. There is there is a lot of death in the world. And there is only one source of life. And I've staked my life on it, and I've seen it, and I testify of it. There is only one true source of life. It doesn't come from good intentions, it doesn't come from what is the word for Shangri-La type? Utopia. Yes. Utopian mindsets and manifestos. It comes from a man who came to this earth and his name was Jesus. Blessed are you who have not seen me yet believe, is what he told his disciples who were about to run from him and said, We believe you. And he says, Blessed are the ones who haven't even seen me. It's impossible for me to believe that thing took place in the Garden of Gethsemane. But Jesus, his spirit, his life. I can't get away from it. The things that he said would happen to those who believe happened to me when I believed. The yokes of oppression, the healings, the signs and wonders. Does everyone get saved, healed, and delivered? No. Did they with Jesus? I just trust him. Not everyone believed in who Jesus was. I will make this amendment that everyone who came to him got healed. I have to wrestle with that. But not everyone that came to him believed. This will blow your mind because I never saw this in Scripture. Maybe it will. Maybe. All right. He says to them, I am the bread of life who comes. Whoever comes to me will never hunger. The one who believes in me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me, I will by no means cast them out. This is the will of the Father. I love it. Here's his will. You want to know his will? I want to know his will. What does he want? Here it is that all that he has given me, I should lose nothing, and I should raise them up on the last day. And this also is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up on the last day. That's the will of God. That's the work of God. The kingdom of heaven that he has lavished on me with every spiritual blessing and benefit in the heavenly realms, Ephesians and Peter, the great blessings of God that he has lavished on me are to do the works of him who sent me, and I don't even do it. He causes them to believe when you can't believe. They are dead and they get raised up from spiritual deadness, from an eternity of separation from God. So if you do not feel or have not felt the Spirit of God tugging at your heart, saying, Well, maybe he is, fear greatly and ask that he would touch your heart to say, Yes, I want to believe in the Son of God. I have not felt that feeling in my heart. I want to know that because that is your work. And that is all I can testify of. That is all the Holy Spirit is in me to do. It's a bifold will right here that is described. He's not going to lose you if he calls you. You're his. He's not letting go ever. And he'll raise you up on the last day. And also he will cause you to believe that he is the one sent from heaven, the bread of life, the Lamb of God, slain before the foundations of the world. And you will not care about the embarrassment. You will confess him before men, because greater is that than denying him before men, and he denied you before heaven. I don't know who you are. Walk away. You didn't testify about me when it mattered if you don't feel my presence. I drew away to see what was in your heart. You were rocked in the service. So what did you testify about who I am? Do you believe in me? I'm not showing up right now the way you want. So what? I am the king of heaven and earth. I'm the creator of the universe. Do you love me? I gave everything for you. I told Abraham up on the mountain, I said, sacrifice your son to me. I watched him lay it all down in a world where the gods demanded your firstborn as a sacrifice I might add. It is the world view, the schema, and it made sense to everyone. And he says, Go ahead and do it. Am I not worthy of the same that all these other gods are worthy of in your mind? Abraham wrestled with that. Ultimately said, Yeah, you are. You are the one true God. Goes to do it, and God's, let me flip the script and tell you something.

SPEAKER_01 41:55

That's amazing, but I'm gonna give my son for you. That's what God is, that's who he is. I'll give my son for you. Come on. My God, that's who he is. Are you kidding me? That he would give his best. Who am I? What have I ever done? Oh my god, my God. You're precious and holy and good. I am not ashamed, Lord, of who you are and what you're doing in my life. In our life here, He wants to strengthen you. He wants to lift you up with that fire. He wants you to be bold right now because, unlike Hezekiah, you have to care about this generation. There's something that tugs at the heart that says, Man, this world's going to hell in a handbasket. Send me, rise up in your heart. In whatever capacity and measure he's given you. Is it music? Is it is it preaching? Is it having a family? Is it working at a coffee shop? Do it to the glory of God. This world needs your light, his light through you. They need it bad. They're depressed. Darkness covers the earth. Behold, deep darkness, mental oppression, the people. But behold, the glory of the God has risen upon you. Behold, your light has dawned. He's telling this to the Jews. He's telling them what his will is. He's saying, This is what my spirit does.

SPEAKER_02 43:50

It calls you, causes you to believe these things that I'm saying. Don't worry, you're not going to have to try to intellectually trick yourself into believing it. You're not gonna have to wrestle against arguments. Well, you are. You're gonna cast down arguments. But because of your witness for Christ. Man. Then they complained. And the people said, Why did he say he's the bread which came to him from heaven? And they said, Isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? Isn't this Sandra who works at Total Concepts? Isn't this Paul who's like out in the field and he doesn't really know what he's doing sometimes? Isn't this fill in your name and the blanks? He doesn't care. He answers and says, Don't murmur. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him. No one can come to him unless the father who has sent me draws them. Oh man. Okay. Yeah. I just remembered this. They didn't believe him, did they? They left him after this. Five hundred walked away. Five hundred disciples, it says. He intensified his message. He said, Not only do you have that I am the bread from heaven, he said, You have to eat my flesh, and you have to drink my blood. He said this to Jews that did not practice cannibalism, believe it or not. And who were instructed from birth never to drink the blood of any living thing. And he's saying, Drink my blood, eat my flesh. There's a lot of ways to go in that. But what happens when we run up against people not believing who we really say that we are in Christ? Stay on message. Intensify it. Jesus, say his name. Jesus is the name. We have unity, but it is division. He says, I didn't come to bring unity, I came to bring a sword. It is a dividing message to the world, but Jesus intensified his message. If I want to walk like him, there are certain levels of resistance that we get where we don't make it seeker-friendly, people. We intensify our message about who he is and what he has done. Only then will they see the line in the sand. Jesus is like, no, this is really the line. This is really it. There is no like, okay, well, like a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and that's okay, and you can have that, and you can have this. And then you can have me as well. Now it's like, this is the line. The Holy Spirit has to convince you. That's it. If you don't believe that I am the one sent from heaven, the bread of life, that you have to eat. My words are spirit, they are life. You have to eat my body. You have to drink of my blood. Take the cup that I drank. Drink it. Drink what I'm pouring out for you. Believe in what I'm doing. That is the line. You cannot have eternal life. You will not be raised up on the last day. That's what he says. He is my God. He has changed me. He has worked in me. He is doing it still. He is creating miracles in my life. I am walking across water that is stormy, that is shaking me. But he is the one doing this. I cannot argue against his word. He is the king. So they did not believe in him. And it says this this is a hard saying. Who can understand that? And when Jesus knew in himself that his disciples complained about this, he said to them, Does this offend you? What then, if you should see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before, it is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The word that I speak to you are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who would betray him. And he said, Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my father. Weep like Hezekiah, if you don't have it. Cry out to him bitterly. Ask him to draw you. Cry out for this generation that are going to be eunuchs in Babylon, that aren't going to be able to produce the seed of the kingdom in their life. They will never see the generational curses broken off. They are going to be captive to Babylon. Weep for them bitterly. Pour out your heart. Because you can stand in the gap. God obviously changes his mind. In Isaiah, he has revealed his works, which point to his ways, which reveal his heart. He's just saying, Hey, when am I coming? I don't know. Maybe I have to come right now. Maybe not. Maybe there are people crying out right now, and there's some work to do. Okay. Yeah, but Simon Peter. Yeah, but Simon Peter, I love that guy. Some of you who do not believe. So he said all this. But Simon Peter answers and says, Lord, where will we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. That's amazing. I just got to read this last scripture and we're done. This is in Matthew. I believe, or it's in Acts. I didn't write this part down, did I? Alright. Ah, it is in Matthew. Thank you. Alright. We come to the end of the story for now. Jesus has fulfilled his calling. Alright, we're gonna jump ahead. He's gone to the cross. It is finished. He has resurrected from the dead. The Pharisees are paying the soldiers to tell the story that they fell asleep and the disciples robbed the body in the middle of the night. The disciples have seen him a series of times, over 500 of them, a series of like 40 times or something like that. They're all gathered together. He's walking them out to the Mount of Olives. He's about to ascend right in front of their eyes. So now while they were going, behold, some of the guards. Oh, came to okay. The Great Commission. Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw him, they worshipped him. Yeah, who wouldn't? Dude, this guy just conquered death in front of their eyes. He's been walking through walls, too.

unknown 51:10

So cool.

SPEAKER_02 51:11

Yeah. And when they saw him, they worshiped him. Get this. But some doubted. You kidding me?

SPEAKER_01 51:20

What the heck?

SPEAKER_02 51:22

I never read that before. Has anyone did everyone know that? Raise your hand if you knew that. Okay. That's not a lot. How long have you guys been in church? I didn't know that. Some doubted. Why the heck is that even there? And he spoke to them. And he said, All authority has been given to me in heaven and in earth. Go therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age. But some doubted. Don't get hung up on the doubters. Because if Jesus could die and resurrect in front of you, and you still doubt, you're gonna have doubters in your life to the testimony and witness of Jesus Christ. Don't give up, be encouraged.

SPEAKER_01 52:19

That is the word of the Lord He was strengthening me on. Put some doubted. So who cares?

SPEAKER_02 52:26

Go make disciples of nations, baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and forget the doubters. There's some things that the Holy Spirit and Jesus just can't do for some people, apparently. That's what I'm getting out of this word. But I invite you to share what the Holy Spirit has been speaking to you to kind of close out the word. That's how I like to do it. So if if you've been feeling something, if there's an unction on your heart or something that you would like to share in response to this word, I am opening in the mic, but be encouraged. There will be doubters. Do what Jesus said. Thank him for the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart when he has gripped you and caused you to believe. If he hasn't, call out to him to grip you to believe, because knock, ask, and seek, and he will open the door and you will find what you are looking for. And that is what the kingdom of heaven has come for. Every resource is for you. It is here and it is available.