David Wilkerson - Hungry for More of Jesus: Experiencing His Presence in These Troubled Times

I have in my library twelve volumes by J. B. Stoney, a devout writer among Plymouth Brethren. Every volume centers on Christ-thousands upon thousands of pages extolling the beauty of our Lord and His ministry as A Man in Glory. In devouring these precious books, I find myself continually humbled and challenged by this brother who has written so much on the single subject of the glory of Christ.

In recent years I have been preaching more and more about my blessed Savior and praying much for a greater revelation of His grace and glory. Never in all my years of preaching have I been so hungry for more of Him. The Holy Spirit has not failed to satisfy that growing hunger, and now He has enabled me to share with the Body of Christ a single volume entirely about Jesus.

If you, too, hunger for more of Jesus, you will find some fragments here to feed your soul. I would expect that only those who have been recently awakened by the Holy Spirit to a new hunger and thirst for Christ and His holiness will take the time to read this book. You have to really be Hungry for More of Jesus to come to the table and eat. This is not for "fast food" Christians in a hurrybut for those who are learning to wait upon the Lord for manna from heaven.

David Wilkerson

The Church of Jesus Christ today has been experiencing history's worst spiritual drought. Multitudes of starving sheep are crying out to their shepherds for some life-giving food, something that will sustain them in these troubled times. Yet all too often they are not given even a scrap of something spiritual! They leave God's house empty, unsatisfied and weak. And they have grown weary of trudging back to an empty table time after time.

This is not what God intended for His people-and it grieves Him to see it. God has provided bread for the whole world. And the bread He offers is more than mere sustenance; it is food for life in its fullest measure-the "abundant life" Jesus spoke of.

What is this bread of God that we hunger for so desperately? Jesus gave us the answer. He said, "The bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (John 6:33). In other words, Jesus Himself is the answer! Like the manna sent to sustain life for the children of Israel in the wilderness, Jesus is the Bread of God for us-the gift sent to sustain life for us today and every day.

The Bread of God, when eaten daily, produces a quality of life that Jesus Himself enjoyed. Christ participated in a life that flowed directly from His heavenly Father-a life, He said, that ought also to quicken us: "I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me" (John 6:57).

This bread is the very thing that modern Christianity lacks-yet desperately needs. And it is my earnest prayer that this book will help meet the spiritual hunger many are sensing in their lives.

This spiritual famine has continued for years. You see, the further a person strays from Jesus, the Source of all life, the more death seeps into him. In the same way, churches and ministries also die when they lose touch with that life-giving flow. Many of them, in fact, have been slowly decaying for some time. That is why so many disillusioned saints cry out to God, yearning for a church that has some life. It is why most young people refer to their churches as "dead."

The prophet Amos spoke of a day when "fair virgins and strong young men [would] faint from thirst" (Amos 8:13). He cried out,

"Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord God, "that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander ... they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it."

Amos 8:11-12

Many Christians are offended when they are told that God sends such a famine of the true Word. And, granted, there is much vigorous preaching and teaching today that is called "revelation." Bibles are more visible than ever. Multitudes flock to hear their favorite preachers and teachers. Some even say this period of Christian history is a day of revival, a glorious time of Gospel light and new truth. Yet if what is being offered to God's people is not the Bread of God from heaven, then it is not true spiritual food. It will not produce life. Instead, it will cause terrible spiritual starvation.

Indeed, starvation abounds right in God's house today. The famine is driving believers from the church to find something that will satisfy their inner needs. Now churches are being overrun with adultery, divorce, "Christian" rock and roll, unbiblical psychology and New Age gospels. Many Christian young people are turning to drugs and sex to try to find fulfillment.

That is because much of what is heard from pulpits today is at best pleasurable pabulum. The sermons are not meaty and not hard to swallow. In fact, they are "fun"! The stories are well-told, the applications easy and practical, and nothing said ever offends anyone. No one has a problem taking along a non-Christian spouse or friend on Sunday because they won't be embarrassed. They won't be confronted about sin. No hot coals from God's altar will burn their consciences, no flaming arrows of conviction from the pulpit will drive them to their knees. No prophetic finger will point straight into their hearts and thunder, "Thou art the man!" And if the hammer does come down against sin, the blow is quickly softened.

It is astonishing but true: The most convenient and conscienceeasing place to hide from the flaming eyes of a holy God is inside a dead church. Its preachers serve more as pallbearers than apostles of life. Instead of guiding starving believers to the abundant life Jesus offers, they give soft assurances that try to ease the hunger: "All is well. You have done everything you need to do. Don't bother about feeding on the Bread of God by abiding in prayer, or dusting off your Bibles, or aligning your hearts with His."

Some preachers protest that, far from dead, their churches are full of glorious praise and worship to God. Yet not all exuberant, emotion-stirring churches are necessarily full of life either. Worship from unclean lips is actually an abomination to God. Praise that flows from hearts full of adultery, lust or pride is a stench in God's nostrils. Christian banners held high by sin-stained hands are nothing more than arrogant flauntings of rebellion.

I once heard a minister "prophesy" that a time is coming soon when church meetings will consist of ninety percent praise. Yet if this happens, and even if the praise is heartfelt, that leaves only ten percent for the remainder-which I assume would include the preaching of God's Word. Yet won't we grow spiritually weak if we shout and praise, but do not eat the Bread of God? Does this mean we have reached the place to which the children of Israel came when they complained, "Our appetite is gone. There is nothing ... except this manna" (Numbers 11:6, NASA)? Could it possibly be that we are bored with sitting at the precious table of the Lord?