Hunger for God — George Verwer

Christ's Testimony and the Reality of Discipleship

I want you to open your Bibles to the 5th chapter of John's Gospel, starting at the 39th verse. Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.

And ye will not come to me that ye might have life. I receive not honor from men, but I know you that ye have not the love of God in you. I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not. If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

How can ye believe which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only? We've been discussing in these messages various phases of discipleship, what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, what it means to live in obedience to Christ, and it's very clear, you know, that we must do it.

Throughout the Epistles, it's clear, it's not just a message of the Gospels. I believe every basic teaching in the Gospels is clearly backed up by teaching in the Epistles. We think of the words of John, that we should walk, how?

Even as he walked. And so it is God's plan for us, to live as Christ lived. This isn't just theory, it isn't just so much air, so many words, something we can have another meeting on, something we can write another book about, something we can put on top of the banner at our next Bible convention.

This is something real, something practical, something vital. Sometimes the men in the world are wiser in their day than we are. And it was H .G. Wells, the famous agnostic, in his book in which he blasted Christianity, it was H .G. Wells who said, not long after the Lord Jesus Christ died, those who claimed to follow him gave up practicing his revolutionary, that's the word he used, principles.

And it's so true, the Church has managed to hold on to the shell, to hold on to the noise, to hold on to a structure, and has missed the hard core of what Christ talked about. This is the thing that almost sent me to the road of agnosticism.

As I met more and more key evangelicals, more and more quote-unquote men of God, I went from Bible school to Bible school, and Christian institution to Christian institution, and found tremendous speakers, tremendous teachers, tremendous talkers, and few walkers.

I became very depressed, discouraged. I've met hundreds of young people who are the same way. Let us be realistic, the majority of evangelical young people in England today, that is, those reared in evangelical circles, are denying faith before the age of 25.

And our dear older folk wonder, what's happening? It must be the latter days. They're believing that it could be that there's something wrong, something basically wrong, even in the lives of those who are considered so highly amongst us.

Bible Teaching Without Obedient Practice

At one convention after another, I heard messages on the epistles of Paul. I used to sell audio Bible studies from house to house. Brother Dale and I did this to get some money for Mexico, to add on to the little bit we were praying in with our feeble faith.

And the audio Bible studies was Bible college on records. Tremendous. No need to go to college, bring the college right into your home. Only cost you about 50 or 60 quid, we got 20 of that, and it was a good deal.

And I'll listen to those records, my tremendous Bible teaching. You could get 20 of the leading Bible teachers in the world right in your living room. At the terminal. Bible teaching at its best. And we flocked to the conferences to get Bible teaching at its best.

And what have you done for us? So I've gone to these places, I've gone and read these books. You know there's more than a thousand books in the English language that cover the appalling epistles. Could you believe it?

Language to reach 50 million Muslims in India, we've got one book and it's poorly written and miserably translated. But in the English language to cover the appalling epistles, to expound them and pull out of them oftentimes what there isn't there, there's more than a thousand books.

So we can go to our conferences and you're probably lining up for next summers already. And we'll hear another exposition on the death of Colossians. And it is a very deep epistle. But my great question tonight, to follow after what Brother Keith has said, is in the midst of all this, where are the Apostle Pauls?

I would like you to answer that. I want to meet them. I'm hungry to meet men of that caliber. So it can be said of, for three years they sit down, night and day with tears, to warn men and women. The stripes that tore across their backs.

And it's because we have separated our theology from our lives and we're trying to put them in two categories, that we are not finding these men in our day. We have many sincere men. We have many great preachers.

Silver tells me we've got many great preachers. Other disciples, tears. Or shall we say, one of the mocks. Look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians. I mean the book of Acts, excuse me, chapter 20. And we see the Apostle Paul.

He wanted to serve the Lord. Now everybody here uses that phrase, theology, don't we? I'm going to serve the Lord. My, if I could only find my place in the Lord's service. There's all kinds of frustrated Christians trying to find their place in the Lord's service.

But you know, God's far more concerned about your finding your place in the Lord than finding your place in the Lord's service. And I don't believe it's near as important tonight that you know where you're going as it is you know how you're going there.

And I'm not referring to your mode of transport. You're going behind the iron curtain. That's wonderful. But in whose strength are you going? You're going to the muggle world. Wonderful. But in whose strength are you going?

You're going to India. You're going to India. Raise your banner. We're off to India. But in whose strength are you going? I dare to say that most of us, even many of us who are leaders in this so-called movement, don't even know the beginnings of what God really wants to teach us.

Let us never think we have arrived for at that point we will be at zero minus one. Look at the Apostle Paul to continue on with what Brother Keith said and to see how he served the Lord in verse 19 of chapter 20.

With all humility of mind patience, which means really trial, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house.

Notice those words, serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and trials in the eyes of the Jews. It doesn't say serving the Lord with great preaching, with large literature distribution, with tremendous campaigns behind the Iron Curtain, with great exploits in Turkey.

It says he served the Lord with humility, tears, and trials. You see, discipleship is first of all a matter of the heart. This is right. Everything else is wrong. This is why I know some fellows that know everything is wrong, but I praise God for them.

I know their heart's right. Guys that have lives, that would add up two by two next to anything, but I know their heart's right. I know that they're hungry for God. And this brings me to the real thing that is burning on my heart tonight, the real mark of a disciple, the real thing that is at the core of discipleship, the real thing that gets way beneath anything else I believe we've talked about up to now.

Hunger for God as the Mark of a Disciple

The core of discipleship, the rock, the base, is hunger for God, more than His love. Because most of us, as much as we want to, as much as we desire to, find ourselves so often not loving. But down beneath that is this great factor about a disciple that marks him as a disciple.

He's hungry for God. That's the greatest proof I have that I'm a disciple. I'm not talking about myself being a disciple in that I've kept the Sermon on the Mount or certain creeds or clothes or that I've sold all my possessions, that I live ruggedly or sleep on floors or climb through windows giving out tax, not referring to that at all.

The reason I know that I'm His child and that He's doing something with me and that He wants to make me a disciple, a real disciple, is this incessant, impossible to stop hunger for God. Do you have that tonight?

If you do, you're on the right road. You might be a failure. You can join in my club for failures. You might have made your 1 ,898th blunder this morning. You can join in my club for blunders. But if you're hungry for God, if you want to know your Creator, if you want fellowship with the One who created you, if your desire is to know Him, to walk with Him, to breathe with Him, then you're on the beginning.

You're on the right road to discipleship. Look with me for a minute at a few verses in the Old Testament. To these men of God who walked and knew Him, we remember what it was said of David. What did God say about David?

In purity all the days of his life. That's what God said. What did God say of David? In the Psalms, who was hungry for God, despite his failures, despite his backsliddenness, despite his awareness, he was hungry and thirsty for God.

Look with me at Psalms 46, verse 10. I mean Psalm 42, verse 1. This isn't a psalm of David. We'll read that next. God panteth after the water brooks, panteth my soul after thee. Can you say that tonight?

Can you pray that tonight? As the deer, away from the water for many days, panteth after the water brooks, my soul panteth after thee. You read history. You read the history of the church. Back right to the first century.

You'll always see it. The mark of the disciple. The mark of the man of God. He was hungry. Hungry to know God. Hungry to know righteousness. Look at Psalm 37, verse 4. Here we see David, the man after all time.

His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he heard me.

And looked down on the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears. Verse 10. Suffer hunger. Shall not want any good thing. Shall not want any good thing. Feel hungry tonight? Hungry to know Christ better.

Hungry to know God better. This is the man who's really going to know God. Who is the man who's going to really have an intimate relationship with God? Is he the clever one? Beat everybody in praying?

Leap over everybody in preaching? The one who distributes the most books? The one who can answer all the theological questions? Is he the one that the Lord draws nigh to? Or maybe it's the one who's a tower of strength.

Almighty one. Years he's lived above all men. Strong. He's done great things for God. Unfortunately he sort of knows it. Is this the one God is going to? Is this the one God is going to? Or maybe it's the Bible student.

The one who's got all the ins and outs from Genesis to Revelation. You can't touch him with a 40-foot pole. He's got every answer in context and out of context. You can't touch him. He knows the Word of God.

He has the longest prayers in the meetings and they're loaded with tremendous Scripture verses from Ephesians and Colossians and Revelations and all over the place. Is this the one God draws nigh to? Is this the one that God reveals himself to?

Maybe it's Mr. True Disciple in the wrong sense of the word. The one who's got everything right down to a teeth. He's checked every possession. It's all committed to the Lord. He's sold everything. He's got one suit.

He should have two because the one is too dirty to wear in any meeting. But anyway, he's a real disciple. He's been on a limb twice. He knows what it is to sleep on the floor. Psalm 34, David cries out.

In the 18th verse, he says, God, have mercy on me. Unto him, the Lord. Tremendous encouragement for me. You remember the story? I think we've already said it during these days, but many of you, perhaps all of us, need to be reminded of it.

The Pharisee and the Contrite Sinner

Until they see the guy, right up there toward the front, and he stood on his toes and he said, Oh, God. I, that's it. Now I'm not like other men. He probably thought of the man who had so many possessions.

Oh, thank God on the Bible college. The poor guy. Way off in the distance. Bent over. Beating himself. Psychological discourser. Throwing out words that meant nothing. Wasn't healed up a blessing. He went away with his robes of self-righteousness.

And knew nothing of justification nor blessing. But that one who came, as it says in this very chapter, with a broken spirit. With a contrite heart. God, I've done this, I've done that. I'm a sinner. Have mercy on me.

I can't explain it. But it's one of the reasons I believe the book. No man would have thought of this. This is contrary to human ideas. All of humanity, all of history from the very beginning of time, said you do something and you get something.

That's what all of world religions teach. Every single religion is the same vow of nothing. You do this, you get this. You do this, you do this, you do this, you do this. We know that the Jews had so many laws.

We know that our dear Muhammad in France had so many things they must do. If they go and have the fast. And if they go to Mecca. And if they do this, and they do this, and they do this, and do this, and do this.

Then, someday, God comes down through Jesus Christ and through the Word of God and shatters all human theory. Human theory would say you'd be a great disciple. You live according to the laws of the Sermon on the Mount.

You go around the world and give out a half a million tax. You go on a campaign and shine the shoes of some other brother and prove that you're humble. And then you'll get a great blessing. A blessing tonight, you must come undone.

Realizing you'll never shine anyone's shoes but by the grace of God. Except with false motives. You'll never give any tracks out except by the grace of God. You'll never last two months even on this next campaign but by the grace of God.

Grace Rather Than Human Achievement

And so I plead with you, don't wait any longer. Come now to the fountain of blessing and take that which is free of charge. Paul writing to the Galatians says, Have you begun in the Spirit? Now will you continue in the flesh?

Many think, I'm saved by grace. My Christian life, I'm going to work my way out. This is a serious mistake. You are saved by grace. By grace. It's the only way. Go over just a page to Psalm 37. Look at these words, verse 4.

You know why many of you are not finding the will of God in these days? Because you're delighting in other things. You're delighting in the enthusiasm. The adventure bubble of Operation Mobilization. Around the world in 20 days in the back of a Bedford lorry.

Tremendous. Even if it's on the unconscious level. You're delighted. Delighting in the fellowship, the enthusiasm of it all. From place to place we go. One minute we're going across the English Channel.

Next minute we're going over the Alps. Next minute we're going across the Bosphorus. Tremendous. Where are you going next year, Brother Keith? If you're delighting in a work. If you're delighting in an organization.

If you're delighting in a movement. And I have discovered most Christians are delighting in some kind of a movement. Everybody has their favorite movement. Have you ever noticed that in Christian service?

Has their favorite movement. With one it's just a dismission. Another one is go to the fellowship. We all give different names to our movements to make them distinct. Ours is the most distinct. Operation Mobile.

No one has that name. No one's that crazy. We delight to see are considered those that are enduring hardship. To be a part of it all. We really get satisfaction. So along we go. Might one great. I can't give you the word.

Might not be acceptable. But might God deliver us of it. Might we go out in this work. Praising Him on the top of your voice. Might we go forth delighting in Him. So when the lorry breaks down it means nothing.

I know some people were very happy. You know until they met someone who had 45 reasons why Operation Mobilization is fun. Five reasons why we were this and we were that. Knew what they did in Spain and what they did here.

And all of a sudden the reputation began to crumble. And it wasn't a great group of disciples. Now it was a group of nobodies. And they were making mistakes. And they weren't organized. And the leader, ooh, we even found out that he sins once in a while.

Oh the bubble popped and there he was. A deluded disciple. A would-be disciple. Don't delight in other things. Our God is a jealous God. He will not share His glory even with organizations that claim to be spiritless.

He will not share His glory with me. He will not share His glory with any preacher, with any healer. That's what we see in that chapter in John when Jesus Christ said to the disciples, How can you believe?

How can you believe? But seek honor one of another. And not the honor that cometh from God only. I want to be able to believe God for great things. I want to be able to believe God for finance. I want to be able to believe God for laborers.

I want to be able to believe God for assemblies and souls and victory of the lives of those I'm working with. God has often said to me, I'll tell you, How can you believe? Which receive honor one of another.

Feed on it. How we feed on it. And the mark of a disciple is that he's hungry for God. He wants the honor of God. He wants the world done. Thou good and faithful servant, day after day he lives for it.

He craves it like the deer craves the water of the brook. Hunger for God. Delight, delight thyself also in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Some of you, in all sincerity, because one thing I know about most who come on OM, of all their weaknesses, our weaknesses, the one thing I know about the hundreds and hundreds that have come into the ranks of this group of fools is that they are sincere.

And God does know your heart. Might it be that way, even as you get more answers to your questions. But one thing I know, that God is very clear in His word concerning that He wants, He doesn't want half, He doesn't want three-fourths, He wants all your attention.

Some of you are very, very busy men. Always many activities. There's always so much to do. Straighten up this, do this, straighten up here, get this arranged, get the meeting going. And God is standing in front of you, He says, My turn to speak with me a while.

Excuse me, I've got a meeting. Away you go. To Psalm 46, verse 10. And see what God wants to say to some of us tonight, especially to me. 6, verse 10. When's the last time you did that? I want to tell you, never given me the power to go another day in this spiritual zoo.

Stillness, Prayer, and the Presence of God

It is God. I was coming in the underground this morning and I didn't feel like going for another day. Have you ever had that? Another day at the desk, another day giving out some text to people who oftentimes don't want them, another day answering questions, picking up telephones, another day...

I didn't in myself want to go through another day. I went into my little office and I put the map of India up in front of me and I played a little tape that I brought back from the holy convocation of Brother Bakht Singh in Madras of Indian music.

And I sat down and took my shoes off and closed my eyes and went 14 or 7 ,000 miles across Madras and I was sitting there and I remember that morning so vividly and I wept. We got up at 5 in the morning, I remember the night before Brother Bakht Singh announced it, I have the announcement on the tape.

He said, now some of you have to leave early Sunday so in order that you all might get your heavenly portion, we're beginning at 5 o 'clock, our worship service. And I thought 5 o 'clock, they had a night of prayer the night before.

And I remember that morning, they sang chorus after chorus and song after song and one man prayed, another man prayed, and prayed and prayed and prayed, it went from 5 o 'clock in the morning to quarter of one in the afternoon.

And I saw Brother Bakht Singh probably several hundred thousand souls. We don't have any publicity. We don't have any gimmicks produced by our highbrow Madison Avenue boys that have us all deceived. He was a man of praise.

He was a man who was hungry for God. He wasn't very clever. He's made his mistakes and got criticized by everybody and his brother because of it. But he was hungry for God. He was a man after God's heart.

He was a man who spent hours, hours in prayer and you couldn't interrupt him with a pile of elephants. He wanted God at any cost. Get up at 5 in the morning but get with God. Sure there's problems, sure there's struggles, but they're in the midst of it.

God honors that kind of thing. And I want to tell you, if you go through these days, you can sell 50 ,000 pounds of books. You can do all kinds of things with a hand. But if you don't get to know God better, if you don't get time with God, if you don't get to know his fellowship, his communion, if you don't learn to delight in him, to go out in the woods or under your car or somewhere and just be still, just as we say in America, I don't know if you're allowed to say this here, but I'll say it, just shut up.

And if you're hungry, if you feel that uneasiness, that desire for more, to know Christ more intimately, to know God more fully, to walk with him, to talk with him, then unite with us in prayer. But if yours is some secondary motive, Christian activity, gospel work, this or that, as good as it might be, withdraw your act.

Tozer on Spiritual Hunger and Revival

I want to read these words in closing from a man I respect very deeply. Name was Tozer. And he said this, listen. In this hour of all but universal darkness, one cheering gleam appears within the fold of conservative Christianity.

Within this fold there are to be found increasing numbers of persons whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger after God, God himself. They are eager for spiritual reality, filled with words, nor will they be content with correct interpretations of truth.

They are thirsty for God, not be satisfied till they have drunk deep at the fountain of living water. This is the only real remnant or harbinger of revival which I have been able to detect anywhere in the religious life.

In the midst of this dark world, religious confusion abounds. Religious superficiality has blinded the eyes of a multitude. A multitude of theologians and conventions and books have blinded us, and there's a strength, and there's wonderment.

In the midst of it all there are few. They want more, and they realize that in their flesh there is nothing, but in Him is everything, and they want. They don't go for campaigns to this country or to that country as much as they go on crusades to know God.

And as long as I'm living and breathing, it will be my cry. I haven't linked myself with O .F. I have pinked myself with the living God. ...only linked and twisted by the stupidity in the self. ...yourself with God.

Pray before His mighty hands. Humble yourselves and take your place at the cross and know the reality of His power, His life, His resurrection. The monks above all else are hungry. And Jesus said, Who hungry?