Sermon Transcription:
The title of what the Lord has put on my heart for you this Sunday really has, in measure, something to do with the incredible miraculous things that the Lord has been doing the last two days. First at the Discipleship School service, and then yesterday at the men's and woman's event. And as we see what the Lord is trying to lead us into as a people, so orderly and in many cases so miraculously, in the last days, the Lord has given a word of protection, warning, and direction for this Sunday. "When all you walk away with is the miracle".
I want to read to you John 6: 8-11; One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There's a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?" Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted."
Here we had people, they were trying to figure out who this Jesus was. They had come out to see who this Jesus was, and they are a part of this incredible miracle moment in their life, in their journey of figuring out who Jesus is. They're getting to know Him, or so they're trying. They have this great miracle moment, and this miracle moment, we know from later on, was producing something in the lives of the Disciples, of Peter. But many that day had left this same place of Miracle, walking away with only the miracle in their heart, walking away with nothing more than something great that Jesus had done, something Supernatural Jesus had done, something only Jesus could have done. But that is what they walk away with. And in many cases, there are many people today in the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ where this is exactly what happens. People have an encounter with the Lord, people have an encounter with something only the Spirit of God could do because of the blood of Jesus Christ in our today. But when they walk away, they take the miracle with them, but they are not getting closer to Jesus.
As the disciples came to a point where they now said, "You are the Son of the Almighty God, where would we go? You have the words of life." But many left only with a miracle in their heart. Let's see what happened the next, the very next day. These people, they were there, they saw Jesus physically in front of them do this marvelous miracle. And here we are the next day, John 6: 25-41, "And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, 'Rabbi, when did You come here?'" Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always." And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet 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 out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this 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 at the last day."
Then the Jews complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." Here you have a people, they have encountered Jesus literally face to face, they have seen Jesus perform an incredible miracle. And they return to seek this Jesus for another miracle. They keep asking Him for bread. Just yesterday, they ate some miracle bread. It was provided for them by the Lord. And just the very next day, Jesus is trying to get a point across, Jesus is trying to explain to them something. And then, to the extent that Jesus chews it out, makes it very simple and plainly tells them, "I am the bread that the Father has sent. Whoever comes to Me for Me and seeks Me, you'll never hunger, you'll never thirst, you will have eternal life, you will be raised up." In other words, even if death touches your life, it will never be a problem if you come to Me for Me. But the Word tells us that the Jews then complained after He had told them this thing. They didn't complain when He did a miracle that they said was a miracle from heaven. They did not complain, they gladly filled their stomachs. And then, when He tells them, "The Father is sending bread from heaven that can give you life, the Father is sending bread from heaven that you can follow, the Father is sending bread from heaven that will give you life even if you die on this side of eternity," they complained. Think about that for a moment. They complained about Jesus after He explains this thing. One day, they see a miracle. Next day, they're seeking Him. The very next moment, they're complaining about Him because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." He says, "You're seeking Me because of what you walked away with." That's what He tells them. He tells them, "You're not seeking Me, you're coming to Me because of what you walked away with yesterday."
This is a people that has come face to face with Jesus beyond what you have experienced. They have come face to face with Jesus, and yet all they walked away with was a miracle. And that's all they were hungry for, that's all they were desiring, that was the only motivation, to look for this Jesus. And then, when it turned out a little different, there was complaining, disappointment, disagreement. Church, you have to be very, very careful. This is something I've seen in every country where we've been allowed to minister. I've seen it every place I've been. I've seen it in people in this church, and I've seen it in people in other churches. There are men, there are women that walk around with a miracle under their arm that God has done in their entire life. That's what they speak about. Their entire life, they go. They're invited in churches to speak of the miracle that God did in their life 20 years ago. They're invited to share of what their God has done. And their message, they preach it as the gospel. They preach their Miracle as the gospel. They preach the hand of God as the very, very person of God. They are so focused when you talk to them about the Lord, all that they can come back to is that Miracle thing that God has done in their life. They're not sharing about the forgiveness of sin. They're not sharing what God is able to do to the heart. They're preaching a miracle God, a God that has a miracle hand that is able to do the most awesome things. But that has become their message because they walked away with a miracle when they encountered Jesus and they did not take him with them. And now, everywhere they go, it is the miracle that is on display. It is the miracle that is talked about. It is the miracle that is promoted.
I've seen people go for decades, and they get invited in places to speak because of the miracle that they talk about. There's people going all throughout, especially the Pentecostal churches, that speak of extraordinary things God has done, Miracles God has done. It is interesting, it's intriguing, and people love to hear these things. People that walk with a miracle under their arm. I've seen people, time and time again, that come to Jesus and that ask him for something that they so need, so long for, so desire in their life. They're asking him for a miracle. They're asking him to move through prayer. They're asking him to move through the laying on of hands. They're asking him to perform a miraculous Miracle. I've seen it with people that were not able to receive kids, and they sought the Lord and they chased after the Lord and they changed their life and they sought to make room for more of God. They sought to serve and pursue him, and then they receive the answer to their prayer. Then they receive the miracle. And I've seen people receive the miracle and move on, and they stop seeking the Lord. Some do it for marriage, some are looking for a husband, some are looking for a wife. And they are giving a portion of their life for the kingdom of God. They're pursuing him, and they're pursuing his kingdom. And the moment God answers what actually was in their heart, what they were actually seeking for, he makes a way for them. He gives them the miracle. And the next moment, their heart cools down, their passion for the things of God cools down, and it becomes evident that all they were looking to carry away was a miracle and move on. And they cherish that Miracle, they're grateful for that Miracle, but that is what they hold on to, that is their focus.
Be very careful, church. We see this again, just like we saw it with the bread in Luke 17. Let me read to you Luke 17: 11-17; "Now it happened as he went to Jerusalem that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as he entered a certain Village there met him 10 men who were lepers, who stood a far off. And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" So when he saw them, he said to them, "Go show yourselves to the priest." And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. And so Jesus answered and said, "Were there not 10 cleansed? But where are the nine?" Where, where are they? Didn't they all receive a touch from God? Didn't they all receive a miraculous story to share from God? Didn't they all have an encounter face to face with the son of almighty God? Didn't they all encounter what only God could have done in their life? And they just walked away? We see Jesus, the Creator, we see Jesus perplexed, astonished. Where are the nine? Heaven's power, the hand of God, the supernatural God intervening in an impossible situation that should have only known decline. God's intervention comes into a life that never deserved it, never fought for it, never earned it. And where are they? I only see one return. Where did they go?
God reaches into the lives today, in our lives, in our generation, into the lives of undeserving Sinners, every single one of us undeserved. And he touches our hearts, he touches our lives, he touches our situations. And these kinds of Believers, cause they are believers, they're crying out to the lord, they're running to the lord, they're Desiring from his hand a miracle in their life. And that's not wrong in itself, but this kind of man, this kind of woman that walks away with the miracle alone, they ask from the Lord and they gladly receive from him and they receive it with joy. And then God sees them just turn around and carry that thing with them that they asked for. He sees them walk away, move on from his presence, move on from their dependency, while God looks at them and says, "I've called you from the womb. I've counted the hairs on your head. I've loved you with an extraordinary love. You are the apple of my eye." But they turn around and move on with the miracle of Heaven under their arm. They love that they have a miracle. This kind of person loves they have a miracle to talk about, a miracle to share, a miracle to boast about. But they do not love Jesus. They do not give their attention, their heart, their adoration, their commitment to Jesus. And Satan has been watching all of this for Generations. He's been watching the Church of the Living God. They're so easily persuaded by Miracles. They so easily follow after Miracles. They so easily begin to trust in their heart because of Miracles. They're far easier persuaded by Miracles than by Jesus.
Church, I've heard it said so many times and it comes with a certain tone. I'm sure you've heard it in your life, but there was a miracle and in the same breath, in the heart, people say it and believe it as if it is to be ascribed to God, as if God did it. There was a miracle and they don't literally say it, "There was a miracle of God," because they just believe any Miracle is a miracle of God. "There was a miracle, God did that." Church, I want you to take home something from this message. You can forget every single thing, but this you need to carry with you for the rest of your life: Be persuaded by Jesus, never be persuaded by Miracles. Be persuaded by Jesus. Do not be persuaded by Miracles. Miracles do not prove that God lives in a person. Miracles do not prove that God is with a person or working through a person. I'll show it to you both in the New Testament and in the Old Testament. Let me take you to Matthew 7: 22-23 in the words of the Lord: "Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." I was never in relationship with you. You were saying you did it in my name, and the miracle was real, but it wasn't from me. I did not send that miracle. I did not tell you to do it. You weren't doing it in my name. I never knew you when you prophesied. I never knew you when you did a miracle.
But why? Why would God allow this? If this is true, Pastor, why would God allow false miracles to run through the church? Why would God allow false prophecy to run through the church? Isn't that a little tricky? Isn't that confusing for the church? Why would he do this? Well, let's see what the word says in the Old Testament about this very thing. Let me read to you Deuteronomy 13: 1-5; "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods which you have not known, and let us serve them,' in other words, this is a new thing that we also deserve our worship. This is a new Miracle. This is a new way. This is something God is doing. Let's give ourselves to it." And the Lord says, "That sign will come to pass. The Wonder will come to pass. It is real. It is actual." Watch what he says: "You shall not listen to the words of that Prophet or that dreamer of a dream, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him and keep his commands and obey his voice. You shall serve him and hold fast to him." But that Prophet or that dreamer of Dreams shall be put to death because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to redeem you from the house of bondage, to entice a way, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk, so you shall put away the evil from your midst.
Church, there are many people, preachers, Believers that have stories of the miraculous, and they're not in love with Jesus. That is what the Lord himself says: You shall not listen to the words of that Prophet or the dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love him or his hand, whether you desire him or whether you have fallen in love with the miracle. And you will follow after the miracle. They are in love with Miracles, and they try to awaken the same love inside of you. That's what that means. It's not plainly and openly, "Let's abandon the Lord God and let's go after a whole completely different God." These are prophets that call themselves prophets of the Lord, preachers that call themselves preachers of the Lord, teachers that call themselves Bible teachers, and they say, "But this is also an important part of your Christianity." It can sound as simple as fasting and praying: if you give enough time fasting, if you give enough time praying, if you give enough effort denying yourself stuff, then God will move, then the miraculous will come, then God will speak, then God will move. They're not pointing at the cross. They say, "You can do things, and if you give those things to God, then God will do a miracle. He'll respond to you. He'll move in your life." It's not Christ. It's not the Lord. It's not the crucified Lord who said, "It was finished." It's not the cross that causes the hand of God to do over your life whatever he may, whatever he may not. It is not the cross. He is testing you whether or not you love the Lord with all of your heart or what he can do. The church, in our generation, is being tested by the Lord: Does the church still love Jesus Christ, or has the church fallen in love with what God can do? What the hand of Christ can do? Church, you can walk around with Miracles under your arms your entire life and experience Miracle, real Miracle after real Miracle in your life, time and time again, and be on your way to hell, and be on your way to separation from God. But if the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ returns to the Lord, what he will do is he will wash you of your sins and make you white as snow. You will never again lack a thing. You will never again be driven to Miracles. You will have peace. You don't need anything more than Jesus.
Let me read to you from a man that saw a lot of miracles in his life but never got his eyes off of the Lord. Going to Psalm 23, starting in verse 1: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." That is what David says. The Lord shepherds me. We just learned what that means. The Lord teaches me. I shall not want. In other words, I'm being taught by Jesus, and nothing is missing anymore. I'm being taught by the Lord Jesus Christ, and nothing is missing. Here's what you need to understand: When you walk away from a miracle, time with God, and all you carry with you is that Miracle, the next morning that you wake up, it feels like something is missing. It feels you're already excited about the next time that a touch of God comes in your life. You're already longing for the next time that God moves. I've seen people crave the miraculous before their life for the miraculous changed the way they live, changed the way they do Church, changed the way they speak and act and live because they so long for the next Miracle. They're not longing for Jesus. They're not seeking Jesus. They're looking to find him because they desire that bread that they got in their stomach yesterday. And when as a preacher, you don't give them that, or when as a church, you try to keep Christ at the center, they reject it.
They're upset. They complain about that Jesus. They complain about the Jesus that said, "The father has a plan." It's not about the signs. It's not about the Wonders. All these things are supposed to lead you to one place: to the living bread from Heaven. You eat from him; you will never want to again. You drink from him; you will have peace for eternity. When you walk away with only a miracle, it will always feel like it's wearing out after a couple of days. A craving arises. There's not a soul that is satisfied unless Christ takes up residence in your heart and becomes the object of your trust, your worship, your adoration, and you give him kingship. There's not a soul that is satisfied. Your idol can be as simple, as common, as safe house church, and every time you come here, you get a little bit touched, a little bit filled up, and it satisfies a miraculous craving in your heart. And all along, Jesus has been trying to tell you, go to church, there's nothing wrong with it, but I've been trying to draw you to myself. I've been trying to draw you to trust me, to call on me, to seek me with all of your heart, since he delivered us and set us free.
Psalms 23: 2; "He makes me lay down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yet though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over." David keeps saying, You do this, He does this, He does this, He does this. You prepare for me a table in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil. This man is not singing about the food that God miraculously provides. He's not singing about anything God has miraculously done. He's singing about his Lord. He's captivated by the Lord that has done these things.
Here's a man that experiences a miracle. He's not supposed to win the battle, the victory in any way that is possible, yet God here provides for him a way to be at total peace in the presence of his enemy, to be a total provision in the presence of his enemy, to be in total, in a place where he can just rejoice and bless his God. He's not distracted. He's walking in the miraculous, but all he can see is his Lord. The entire Psalm is pointing back, almost every sentence, to his King, his Lord. And here is the end result of a man that doesn't carry around the miracles and seeks after the miracles, be what they may, as long as they lead people to Christ. There's nothing wrong with these things, but there's too many people in our churches today that believe that get their peace from a new miracle, that get confirmation of their call when God, again, does a miracle in their life, that find value and worth and trust that God still loves me when he touches me again in the miraculous.
Verse six: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." That is the end result, Church, of someone that doesn't just walk away with a miracle, but returns to the Lord, as that one did who got healed from his leprosy, not going and carrying that miracle around and probably telling many, maybe even telling them that Jesus did it, but to return to him, to value him, to give him our heart.
This is the man that says, "I see the miracle, but I'm going to the source." This is the woman that says, "I value the miracle, but I need to cling onto the source." I fear Him, I adore Him, I seek Him, church. I desire that one more time the Church of the Living God be a people that returns to Jesus. He is doing the miraculous left and right. He's willing to move in the miraculous, but too many times, people are willing to take whatever the hand of God can do and move on and use it for their life, use it for their Christianity, use it for their speech, and it's no longer the cross, Christ, and Him crucified, as Paul said, "I have known nothing but Christ and Him crucified."
Paul could tell you many miraculous stories. Paul could tell you many times where God did the impossible. But when he went from place to place, when he met new people, when he went to churches, you couldn't make him quiet about the cross because the cross did a miracle that no other miracle could ever do. There were miracles, church, throughout the time of the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament. Miracles will always take place, but there was one thing that was never possible, and that was for you to return to God and to come into His presence and to dwell with Him and to know Him and to remain with Him. We need to answer God's call of love.
He wanted you to be able to return to Him, to be in His presence. That's why Christ came. Miracles took place far before Christ came into this world, but once Christ came to fulfill the Father's will and Christ made a way for you to come into the Father's presence, He did that for the Father because the Father desired for you to come to Him, to return to Him, to dwell in His presence. And church, we need to be a people one more time as Safe House Church, as people in this world, we need to leave behind everywhere we go the sound, the attitude, the lifestyle of returning to Jesus, returning to Him even though He does the miraculous, returning to Him even though He has a mighty arm which He can bear in our lives. But to return to Jesus and to make Him the center of our expectation, the center of our worship, the center of our hope, the center of our adoration, the center of our alone time at home when we seek Him, not because we want something from Him, but because we have decided to love Him with all of our heart since He delivered us and set us free.
Church, be careful. There is such a deceitful love that tries to make its way into the Church of the Living God, and it is a love that causes you to become full of adoration and even obsession with what God can do for you in your life, even through you. He's not looking for you to be impressed with what He can do. He wants you to seek after Him. He wants you to give Him your heart. He wants you to show up in the presence of the Father. Jesus Christ made the greatest miracle possible for you and I to turn and to come to the Father because of who He is, to come and bless Him because of who He is. There will be many times in your life where there's assignments sent your way, and God allows it so that you may be tested: Do they love Me with all of their heart? Do they fear Me? Do they reverence Me? Do they adore Me? Or can they be persuaded by miracles?
If you say, "God, I want to be a church that causes others around me that are watching to return to where Christ is worshiped, where Christ is placed at the center, where miracles may take place, they may not, but Christ has become one more time the object of our hope, the center of our worship, the heart of our evangelism, our preaching." So many people evangelize with miracles, church. You need to evangelize with the cross, the only miracle that made a way for you and I to be forgiven, to be saved.
If you say, "I want to be a church that causes others to return," if you say, "I feel the pain of God in measure in my heart. The Holy Spirit is bearing witness in my heart. I can feel what God was saying: Where are the nine? I reached out with my miraculous hand, with a bloodstained cross, into their life, and I healed them, I cleansed them, I set them free, and they ran with the miracles. But where are the nine? So many distracted by the miracles, so many deceived by what the enemy tries to abuse, looking like the kingdom of God just to get them to be distracted from the heart of God's message and from His gospel, the only power, the only name by whom all men must be saved."
If you say, "Lord, I feel that pain, and I want to be a part of the reason that people begin returning to You," if that is in your heart, would you join me at this altar, as well as online, we're going to pray together, and we're going to ask the Lord, "Lord, do whatever it takes to turn me into a man, into a woman that causes others in my generation to become a returning people, a people that return to Christ, that leaves behind all of the attention, all of the awe and wonder, all of the obsession with the miracle of anointed worship, with the miracle of healing, with the miracle of things that only God could protect me from and lead me into and doors only He could have opened and restorations only He could have done, to turn from those things and to return to the Lord with all of our heart."
-Pastor Stan Mons