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The Gospel Truth
Are You Satisfied with Jesus? Episode 9
00:28:30
Has Jesus truly met every desire, need, and expectation in your life? For many of us, the honest answer is “not yet.” Too often, we miss out on the abundant satisfaction that comes from fully trusting God’s Word. Join Andrew in this eye-opening study...
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Welcome to Gospel Truth with Andrew Wommack, a teaching ministry that focuses on God's unconditional love and grace.
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We have a better covenant upon better promises, and we have a better relationship with God. All these things we strive for, and work for, and hope for, and pray for, we already have those things because Jesus gave it all to us.
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And now, here's Andrew.
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Welcome to our Thursday's broadcast of the Gospel Truth. Today I'm drawing to the end of a series that I started last week. This is just a two week series and I'm talking about are you satisfied with Jesus? I've got this little pamphlet that I wrote in one day. I've spent a little bit more time than that editing it, but I just sat down and wrote this because the Lord ministered to me so strongly through John chapter 14, where Jesus said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. And then Philip says, lord, show us the Father and it'll satisfy us. And the Lord spoke to me through that and said, you know, Philip wasn't satisfied with me. He thought he needed to see the Father. And I guarantee you Jesus is enough to satisfy anybody. The love, the power, the real person of Jesus should be enough to satisfy every longing that you have. You ought to have nothing that is left out if you have Jesus. If you've got Jesus, you've got everything. You should be satisfied. And yet Philip says we aren't satisfied. Show us the Father and then we'll be satisfied. And I've spent a lot of time showing that the reason he wasn't satisfied with Jesus is because he was looking on the physical body. He only knew Jesus after the flesh. That's what the apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:16. They only knew him after the flesh. And I've used this example, to me it's just an awesome example. But our flesh is like our vehicle that we get around in. People knew the vehicle that Jesus was in, but they didn't see who was really inside. If they had seen the true glory and power and awesomeness of God, they would have been satisfied with Jesus. But Jesus physical body was a hindrance to them. Likewise, we stumble over our physical body and just living in the physical realm and wanting to relate to God only on the basis of some physical emotion, feeling. We want to hear an audible voice. We want to see an angel or something like that. And did you know that that will actually hinder you from having a relationship with God? Jesus said he told the woman at the well in John chapter Four. He says, God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. You have to connect with the Lord by the spirit and not through these physical, tangible ways. Now, that's not to say that God can't touch us, that we can't hear an audible voice. We can't see things. Those things do happen, but that's not what you should be seeking. Let me use two stories here and contrast them to show you what I'm talking about over here. In Matthew, chapter eight, there was a centurion that came to Jesus and asked him if he would come and pray for one of his servants because he was dying. And Jesus said, I will come and heal him. And look at what the centurion said to Jesus. This is Matthew, chapter 8, verse 8. The centurion answered and said, lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this man, go. And he goeth, and to another come, and he cometh. And to my servant do this. And he doeth it. Look at this. This is awesome. In verse 10, when Jesus heard it, he marvelled and said to them that followed him, verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith. No, not in Israel. There's only two times recorded in Scripture that Jesus marveled once is right here at this man's great faith. And then it says that he marveled at his own disciples unbelief, how they could spend so much time with him, hear him teach, see his miracles, and still be so full of unbelief. He marveled at how dumb people could get and still breathe. And then he marveled at this man's faith. Now, a faith that makes Jesus marvel is worth analyzing and looking at. And what made it so great? He said, it's because I recognize the power and the authority that your word has. I'm a man under authority. I would have soldiers under me. I tell one person, go do this. And he had best do it. He says, I recognize the authority, the power of words. And he says, you speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. I believe that the reason that Jesus marveled at the centurion's faith was because he had faith in words. He understood authority. And he says, you just speak the word. I don't need to see you come into my house. I don't need to see you wave the hand over the spot. I don't need to hear an audible voice. I don't have to have your physical presence. Just give me a word and that's enough. Did you know that that's the highest form of faith? Now contrast that with John chapter 20. And this is after Jesus was resurrected from the dead and he appeared unto the disciples on the resurrection day. But Thomas, one of the 12 apostles wasn't there. And so the other disciples told him that we've seen the Lord, he's alive. We put, you know, we were able to touch him. And Thomas said this, look at this. In John chapter 20, in verse 24 it says, But Thomas, one of the 12 called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, we have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side. I will not believe. Did you know not believing is a choice. I will not believe. Some people think I just can't overcome unbelief. It's a choice. You may not sit down and say, alright, I just want to disbelieve. But you chose not to be focused on the word of God, not to dominate, but you chose to allow these other inroads into your thought, life, into your heart that cause unbelief. You know, the Bible says in Romans 10:17, so then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And I believe I'm accurate to say that unbelief also comes by hearing anything that is contrary to the word of God. Unbelief doesn't just come upon you like a seizure. You don't catch it by being close to somebody else who's an unbeliever. It comes because of what you're focused on. Faith comes because you are hearing and being dominated by the word of God. Unbelief comes because you are being dominated by things that are contrary to the word of God. So you may not have just chosen, I want to be full of unbelief. But you chose to be plugged into this world, to allow the sewage of this world, their, their thinking, their attitudes, their values, their worldview. You chose to allow that to just flow through you unchecked and unhindered. And that's what produces this unbelief. It's a choice. And you can choose to get over unbelief. You can choose to keep your mind stayed upon the Lord. Isaiah 26:3 the Lord will keep you in perfect Peace, if your mind is stayed upon him. So Thomas said, unless I can see, unless I can touch, unless I can put my finger into the print of the nails, I will not believe. And in verse 26. And after eight days, again his disciples were within and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, peace be unto you. Then said he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger and behold my hands. And reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side. And be not faithless, but believing. Did you know Jesus wasn't present when the other disciples told Thomas about seeing him? And he wasn't present when Thomas said, I'm not going to believe unless I can see and put my finger into the print of the nails. And yet when he came this time with Thomas present, he knew everything that he had said, again revealing that this indeed was Jesus. He hadn't physically heard it, but as God, he knew everything that was going on. And so he said these things to Thomas. And Thomas fell down in verse 28. And it says, then Thomas answered and said, my Lord and my God. He did it, didn't record it, that he had to touch. He just knowing that Jesus was there, seeing him, hearing what he had to say, he fell down and confessed that Jesus was resurrected from the dead.
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And.
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And look at what Jesus said in verse 29. Jesus said unto him, thomas, because thou hast seen me, you have believed. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. Man, that's huge. Jesus put a greater blessing on people who took the Word and believed the Word. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. There is a greater blessing on believing the Word than there is if you were to have a vision of angels, whether you were to hear an audible voice, whether something physical, tangible happened. And so contrast Thomas faith that Jesus said, there's a greater faith than this. And contrast that with this centurion over in the eighth chapter of the Book of Matthew, that Jesus said, marveled and said, I've never seen such great faith. The faith that he marveled at was a faith that just took the Word. You give me a word and that's enough. My faith is based on the Word. Thomas faith was based on. He had to see, he had to touch, he had to feel. There is a greater blessing on those who will take the truth of God's Word and all of these promises and believe them and stand on the Word of God. There's a greater blessing on that than those who have to just constantly have God come reassure them in some tangible way and give them some kind of a physical proof so that they don't have to operate in faith, which is based on the Word, but they can operate in feeling, which is based on just this carnal, natural realm. And sad to say, this is where the vast majority of Christians lie. You know, when I first got really turned on to the Lord, I was raised in a Baptist church. And the Baptists preached getting born again, preached getting saved. And then once you were saved, you were just stuck until you went to heaven. You couldn't believe for healing. You couldn't be for. For prosperity. You couldn't really have any great experiences. It was just, you're saved and stuck. And we would sing songs about when we all get to heaven further along, we'll know all about it, but you just had to muddle through the best you could. We didn't believe in supernatural encounters, God speaking to you. We didn't believe that those things were for today, that all the miracles had passed away with the apostles. I know some people take issue with that, and there are some Baptists who believe in that. I'm not against Baptists. They're the ones who got me born again, told me the truth, and I got saved. But I'm just saying that the church that I went to, all of the miracles passed away. We would read Acts chapter three, where it talked about Jesus raising up this, or excuse me, not Jesus, but James, Peter and John raising up the lame man at the gate of the temple. And I read that my whole life, and it never once dawned on me that this man was physically healed. Because the Baptists would always take it and say we were all spiritually cripples and Jesus has healed us spiritually, emotionally, but they just did away with physical miracles. You couldn't believe for healing, prosperity, deliverance. They didn't even. They believed demons were all over in Africa someplace. There weren't any demons in the United States. So anyway, my point is, I was raised to believe that you just get born again and then basically you hang on. And only when you get to heaven do you really begin to experience all these wonderful things. And when I got baptized in the Holy Spirit and started speaking in tongues, man, the Word came alive to me. I realized that that man in Acts chapter three was physically healed, not just spiritually and emotionally, but miracles happened. And Jesus said that the works that he did we could do also. And so because of this, I got to playing around with some of these people that were outside of the Baptist realm. And I heard Kenneth Hagin talk about he would see angels and visions and dreams, and he saw demons and he heard audible voices and he had burning in his hands that would jump between his hands when he laid hands on people. And I started realizing that there are supernatural, physical manifestations of God today. And I got to coveting them. And it was right during this time when I was praying and I was wanting to see an angel, I was wanting to hear an audible voice. I was wanting something physical, natural. And it was during this time that the Lord showed me these two examples that I've shared on today's program. The centurion who God marveled at and said, I've never seen such great faith because he just believed in the Word. And then Thomas, who the Lord did accommodate him, you know, the Lord told a number of people, according to your faith and God, you know, he will deal with us outside of his best. But he made it very clear over there in John chapter 20 that his best isn't just believing because you've seen something, because you can touch something, because it's tangible. God's best is to operate in faith. And Hebrews 11:6 says, without faith, it's impossible to please him. Faith pleases God more than when a person is brought to some type of, you know, acknowledgement just because of facts. They've backed him into a corner, pointed him, painted him into a corner and stuff. No, God wants us to respond voluntarily by faith. God is a spirit being. John chapter 4, verse 24. And he wants us to worship him in spirit and in truth. And when I saw this, did you know, I quit asking God for a, you know, a special prophecy, a vision, a dream, an audible voice, something tangible. And I said, God, I want to operate in your best. I want to operate in the highest form of faith. I want the greater blessing that this centurion got in Matthew chapter eight. And I just made this commitment. And did you know, since that time, that was probably about 1970 or 71. Did you know, since that time, before that time, I would get prophecies. People would come and prophesy and speak things to me. Since that time, I could be on a. A row of people in a meeting. There could be 15 people on this row, and they would come and prophesy to every one of them except me. Now, I have had some prophecies, and I'm not saying I don't despise prophecy. And if God wants to do something supernatural and speak to me through a gift of the spirit or do something, I'm certainly not against It I'll receive anything he's got. But I quit seeking that God's word is good enough. And since that time, did you know everybody else will get these prophecies and they'll skip me nearly every time. And I, instead of saying, what's wrong with me? How come God doesn't prophesy to me through people? I think it's just the opposite. I think God is honoring what I've said, that I just study the Word. And when, when the Word of God comes alive to me and I see these promises, I stand on these promises. I don't have to have five confirmations. I don't have to have something happen. I don't have to put a fleece out like Gideon did. The problem with putting a fleece out is sometimes you get things fleeced. That's an Old Testament way. Now we can communicate with God, spirit to spirit, and we aren't limited to just some physical manifestation. You know, the reason I'm saying all of these things is because I go back to John, chapter 14. Philip wasn't satisfied with Jesus, not because Jesus had anything that was wrong with him. It was because he only was dealing with the physical Jesus. He was only dealing with this physical body. He didn't really see who Jesus was. He wasn't relating to Jesus spirit to spirit. He was doing it flesh to flesh. And sad to say, so many Christians are doing the same thing today. They are trying to contact God in some physical, natural, emotional way where they feel something, they see something, and this is the reason that they aren't connecting. Again. I go back to Jesus own words in John chapter 4, verse 24. He says, God is a spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Most Christians aren't worshipping God in spirit. And in truth, they're trying to worship him in the flesh. This is the reason that so many Christian songs are just songs of woe is me and whining and griping and complaining and oh God, it's so hard. And they, you know what that's doing? You are relating to God in the flesh. When you come before God and you say, oh God, I'm just so depressed, God, I'm so discouraged. Oh God, I'm nothing. And you just are talking about all these things. You know what you are in the flesh because in the spirit, you aren't discouraged in the spirit. The Bible says in Galatians 5, 22 and 23 that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, Goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. Against such there is no law. That's who you are and that's what you have in the Spirit. So when you come before the Lord and you say, oh God, I'm just so scared. You've solved the problem because you aren't in the spirit. You are in the flesh. You are in this feeling, natural realm. And let me just say that if there was no spirit being on the inside of us, if when we get born again, we weren't changed and didn't become a new person, and if we didn't have this new spirit in Christ, and if all there was was just this physical and emotional realm, then if you aren't discouraged, something's wrong with you. Because did you know that this life is tough? I mean, if you stop and think about it, life is a terminal experience. Unless Jesus comes back in our lifetime, every single one of us is going to die. And it doesn't matter if you are young and at the top of your game and you're just feeling wonderful right now. Did you know you're in the process of dying? And if you were just to think about that, that's discouraging. And if you think about that, everything you build, you build a brand new home, the thing's going to start deteriorating immediately. Unless you keep it up, it's going to take upkeep. Things don't go from bad to better in the natural realm. They go from good to bad. Everything is in a constant state of disca decay. We live in a fallen world. And even if you are doing okay, Satan has more than enough people to come along and push your buttons and always be saying something and doing to offend you. If all there was is the physical natural world and there was no heaven and this life was all there is, something would be wrong with you if you weren't discouraged, if you weren't pessimistic. But because there is a spiritual realm, then I can look beyond this physical realm. And even if the worst case scenario happens and if I was to die, I go to be with the Lord. I live forever in a mansion and I have no more sorrow, no more pain. The former things won't even come to mind. It's going to be absolutely awesome. And so because of that, I don't care if my physical body is experiencing problems, man, I in the spirit man, my spirit, man is renewed. Day by day, it is getting better and better. I'm just in the spirit realm. I am absolutely awesome. And so it doesn't matter if somebody else Rejects me. God himself loves me. And see, because of who I am in the Spirit and what I have in Christ, I have a totally different attitude. But if you are limited to just these physical emotions, physical realm, what you see, taste, hear, smell and feel is the only reality to you, then something would be wrong with you if you aren't depressed. But because we are a new person in Christ, because we've got the promise of all of these things that will be happening in eternity, it doesn't matter what goes on in the natural realm. You can have peace and you can have joy and you can have a relationship with God. If they put you in solitary confinement, if somebody beat you and put you in prison the way they did Paul in the 16th chapter of the Book of Acts, and his back was bleeding and they put his hands and his feet in the stocks, he could sit there and praise God and sing praises to God at midnight because you know what? He was worshipping in the Spirit. And the Spirit isn't dominated and controlled by what's happening in the physical realm. I know that what I'm saying is strange to a lot of people, but, you know, I actually pity people who are only controlled by what they see, taste, hear, smell and feel. We've also got faith, we've got a spiritual realm, and we can relate to God. And I've been in situations where in the natural everything, I. I should absolutely be destroyed. I ought to be crying. I ought to be sitting there griping and complaining with the best of them. But because I've learned how to access God and relate to him, spirit to spirit, and stand on what the word of God says instead of what I feel. There are times that I have rejoiced. I have had some of my greatest times of fellowship with the Lord when things are absolutely at their worst. And there's people watching this program that you don't have a clue what I'm saying. You can't even relate to this, and I'm saying this in love, but it's because you are literally dominated and controlled by your five senses. There is more to it than that. You are a spirit being. Instead of focusing on the vehicle that you get around in and spend all of your time trying to improve it, you need to learn who you are in the Spirit and you need to start relating to God. And you can get to a place to where even if your body is hurting, you are just having an awesome, awesome time with God. That's what this whole teaching is about. Are you satisfied with Jesus? I guarantee you Jesus satisfies, but in order for you to receive that satisfaction, you've got to learn how to relate to him by the Spirit instead of looking for just some physical, natural way of relating to God. That's what this teaching is all about. Tomorrow is going to be my last day to teach on this. I promise you this would be a blessing. This is my gift to you and we are asking for a gift of any amount. Whatever you want to Give for either CDS or DVDs. Listen to our announcer and then please call or write Today Andrew's teaching are.
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You satisfied with Jesus? Is available as a booklet and today Andrew would like to offer it as his free gift to you. Go to awmi.net to receive your free copy and to order additional copies to share with friends and family for only $1 each. This series is also available in a two part CD or DVD album made from our daily television broadcast. Each of these valuable resources are available for a gift of any amount when you contact us. This entire series is also available for audio download and absolutely free from our web site@awmi.net while there you can discover more product details and download additional free resources Also. Our products and additional resources are available in various languages through our web site. You can also order resources or receive prayer by calling our helpline at 719-635-1111. Our helpline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To write us, use the address on your screen. We appreciate your generosity and hope to hear from you today.
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You know we've really been blessed here at Andrew Wommack Ministries and Charis Bible College and we have the best partners. We have 65,000 partners who allow us to do what we're doing. But one of the ways that people have been giving is what we call legacy giving. This is an end of life gift. We partner with some other ministries where you can go there and get your will done absolutely free. And you don't have to designate Andrew Wommack Ministries or Charis Bible College, but many people do. And we've actually had hundreds of millions of dollars pledged towards our ministry as an end of life gift and so I would encourage you to check it out. We'll have some information there on the screen and but this is a way of you just continuing your giving even after you've gone to be with the Lord. You can still be a blessing to all of the people that we're ministering to. So check out the information on the screen and become a part of our legacy giving today.
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Am I A mistake?
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Did God overlook me?
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Why do I still deal with depression?
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I need direction. Why does life feel meaningless? Have I wasted my God? Why don't I know what to do? Have I blown it? God's people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. If you've got any problem in your life, it's really because you don't understand fully what God has done. This word is the greatest gift that God has ever given us because this is how we know Him. I'm promising you preparation. Time is never wasted time. Regardless of what you feel that God has called you to do, you need to be prepared.
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At Charis Bible College, you will be transformed by the word of God. You will develop your relationship, relationship with God and ability to hear his voice. That is what is going to transform your life, your vision, and your future. It's not too late. Stop disqualifying yourself. No matter who you are or what you've done, God still has a plan for you. Learn more@charisbiblecollege.org I want to let you.
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Know about a meeting that we have coming up that we call the Festival of Nations. And this is where we bring our directors from all over the world here. They wear their own garb from their own nation. They start giving reports about what's happening. We have somebody from every different place sing the same song in a different language. And I tell you, it's just one of the most exciting things that we do all year long. And you can go to our web site and you can log in and you can participate with us and join us. You will be blessed.
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The way Andrew presents the truth is clear. I just appreciate everything he says. And Andrew is approachable. He's just a human being witnessing the gospel for everyone who wants to share that experience in Christ with him.
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At this time, we are asking you to make a pledge to read through the Bible in one year. The Lord said he would keep that which we commit unto Him. No committing, no keeping. So I think it's good to make a commitment to do this. And we have a number of things that we will be sending you. We have a Bible reading plan. We will send you some emails to keep you on track. And you also will get a 50% discount on my living commentary if you sign up. So join up with us and do this Bible reading pledge today.