Why Are We Failing the Great Commission?
Chapter Sixteen
“Quench Not the Holy
Spirit”
People who
have had a loved one die know what it means to grieve. We grieve for someone according to the degree
that person is loved and the degree we were involved in that person’s life. We grieve over the death of a loved one. We grieve over the sickness of a loved and
the pain a loved one suffers. We can
even look upon someone’s suffering with empathy and compassion, feeling to some
degree the pain they feel. Yet, somehow,
we cannot connect these aspects of our beings with the character and nature of
God in Whose image we are created. God
sees people that He loves in pain, grief, and suffering and is moved with
compassion for us. God grieves over the
predicament into which sin has brought humanity.
We have
little comprehension of God’s love for us even as sinners. Nor can we comprehend the degree He is involved
in our lives before and after our salvation.
Therefore, we cannot comprehend the depth of His grief when His “born
again” children sin. God does not view
the physical death of one of His “born again” children with grief. Death of one of God’s “born again” children
is graduation day to glory and a time of rejoicing for all of Heaven,
including God. “Precious in the
sight of the LORD is the death of his saints” (Psalm 115:16). Death for a
“born again” believer is the moment of DELIVERANCE to the glories of
Heaven. From God’s perspective, it would
be sad if that person would have to return to this wicked world. Understand all of this and you will understand
the shortest verse in the Bible; “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).
“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with
compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad
{dispersed; disorganized and therefore endangered}, as sheep
having no shepherd {pastor; no one to watch over them}” (Matthew 9:36).
As soon as
Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she immediately went out to meet Him, “but
Mary still sat in the house” (John 11:20).
Mary
was despondent. She withdrew from the
Lord. Today we would say she went into
the bathroom and locked the door. I believe
she was sending a message to the Lord.
She was telling Him, if you don’t care about me, I don’t care about
you! Martha took the direct (and
proper) approach in communicating her feelings (John 11:21-22).
Martha was ashamed of the
way Mary treated the Lord (John 11:28).
Martha went to Mary “secretly” (privately).
However, in Mary’s state of mind, it would have done no good to rebuke
her (perhaps more harm would have been done).
Instead, Martha speaks directly to Mary’s unwarranted concern that the
Lord doesn’t care. She says, “The
Master is come, and calleth for thee.” SPEAK
AT THE LEVEL OF YOUR CONCERN! Say
what needs to be said.
Jesus wanted to see Mary.
He wanted to communicate what He was going to do. He wanted to comfort her like He had just
done with Martha (John 11:23-27).
However, until she came and communicated her concerns, He could not help
her. Therefore, Jesus sent
communication to Mary from Martha. Be
the voice of God when necessary! God
is always trying to communicate with us.
He is always trying to keep the lines open. We are the ones who close the doors of
communication with God and lock ourselves away behind them and away from the power
of His Word.
As soon as Mary heard that Jesus was concerned about her,
she “quickly” ran to Him. We do not
know how people will respond to the truth, but we know they can never respond
if they never hear it from you.
SPEAK THE TRUTH IN LOVE (I Timothy 2:7).
In John 11:32, Mary communicates her concern and her complaint against
the Lord. Where have we heard this
statement before? (Read John 11:21 again; “Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother
had not died.”) We do not know if Martha
infected Mary with this bad attitude or if Mary infected Martha (I think it the
latter). Mary may have been bowing
at His feet on the outside, but on the inside, she was standing, shaking her
finger in His face.
“33
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which
came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled {because
they did not understand the blessings in the death of a saint}, 34
And said {in despondency over their spiritual ignorance and resulting
unbelief}, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. 35
Jesus wept. 36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! 37
And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind,
have caused that even this man should not have died? 38 Jesus
therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a
cave, and a stone lay upon it. 39 Jesus said, Take ye away the
stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this
time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. 40 Jesus
saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou
shouldest see the glory of God? 41 Then they took away the stone
from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his
eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. 42 And
I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I
said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. 43
And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come
forth. 44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and
foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith
unto them, Loose him, and let him go. 45 Then many of the Jews which
came to {mourn with} Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did,
believed on him {and now you understand why Mary anointed His feet with
oil and wiped His feet with her hair in John 12:3}. 46 But
some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what
things Jesus had done. 47 Then gathered the chief priests and the
Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. 48
If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans
shall come and take away both our place and nation” (John 11:33-48).
Jesus was
grieved in His Spirit (John 11:33, 35, and 38).
“Groaned”
is from a Greek word that means He was upset, even angry about the
attitudes of these ladies. According to
John 11:37, these ladies had probably infected many other people with this
murmuring and complaining spirit. Their
spirit communicated a lie about Jesus. Jesus
was so deeply grieved in His Spirit, He “wept” (John 11:35).
What
should have been a deeply moving experience and exhibition of the faith of
people who professed to love the Lord and trust Him was reduced to a burden in
that He had to prove Himself even to followers (John 11:38).
Martha still is questioning the Lord’s abilities (v
39). Jesus must remind her again of Who
He is (John 11:40). What should have
been a joyous event for Jesus instead became an agony for Him. I think we see this reflected in the commands
of Jesus in verses 39 and 44.
There are many things that grieve the Lord besides the
disobedience of open rebellion or sinful thoughts. Other things that grieve the Lord are
things like unbelief, complaining against Him, and the unwillingness to trust
Him with our lives. Jesus is grieved by
our apathy and complacency. The
“stone” on the tomb of Lazarus represents much more than the seal on a dead
man’s grave. It represents our doubt,
worry, anxiety, despair, fear, discouragement, and unbelief, all the attitudes
that grieve the Holy Spirit. The “stone”
represents everything in our lives that says to the Lord, You are not what
you claim to be.
“Said I not . . . if thou wouldest believe . . .” (vs.
40). Here is the one thing that
grieves the Lord Jesus the most; the unwillingness of professing believers to
believe Him (NOT IN Him, but truly believe what He says) and to trust
Him with our everyday lives. Winning
souls is not a priority of our lives because we really don’t believe Him. If we believed Him, nothing would be more
important than communicating to the world the truth about Jesus Christ. Unbelief comes wrapped in subtly
self-deceptive packaging. Hypocrisy is
an occupation that wears many masks.
“22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a
hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural
face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth
himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he
was” (James 1:22-24).
Modern
Christianity has redefined the word faith to merely mean believing. This concept of faith is totally foreign to
the Hebrew (Jewish) understanding of faith.
In the Hebrew concept of faith, to believe something means to ALWAYS
do what is believed. The way a
person lives is radically changed by what he believes.
If BElieving without doing is your definition of faith,
what you have is not faith at all!
When confronted by the death of a loved
one, do not be deceived into being angry with God. Be angry with Satan! It is Satan that brought death into God’s
perfect creation. The message of John
chapter eleven is that when faith is real, death is not permanent, and your ACTIONS
should CORRESPOND.
We often miss the teaching of a portion of Scripture,
not because we fail to see or understand what the text reveals to us, but
because we fail to see the obvious things that are missing that should be
there. For instance, John chapter
four is one of those texts. Christ is
trying to teach His disciples (and all of us) an important lesson in
evangelism. This lesson is both about a
vision for evangelism and spiritual requirements for its accomplished.
Every local church must be dependent upon the Holy
Spirit if they are ever going to be effective in evangelism. We must learn to see through the eyes of God’s
compassion. That means each member
of a local church must be filled with the Spirit of God, yielded to His
directing, and following His leadership.
When Christians fail to be what they ought to be because they fail in
this area of their life, they grieve the Holy Spirit. However, this results in much broader
ramifications for the local church. When
any member of a local church lives in such a manner as to grieve the
Holy Spirit, he quenches the Holy Spirit in the local church.
In I Thessalonians 5:19, we are told to “quench not the
Spirit.” “Quench” is translated from
the Greek word sbennumi (sben'-noo-mee).
It simply means to extinguish, suppress, stifle, or quench. The word picture is that of pouring water on
a fire to extinguish it. In quenching
the Spirit, the Spirit’s potential for both light and heat is removed. The Spirit-filled Christian SHOULD be both
light and heat! Some Christians want
to be light with no heat. Others are
just heat with no light. There is balance between light and heat in the
Spirit-filled believer’s life.
The word “quench” is in the imperative mood. That means it expresses a command to the
hearer to perform a certain action by the order and authority of the one
commanding. It does not express an invitation
to do something. It is an absolute
command requiring full obedience on the part of all hearers. Therefore, this is an expression of singular
and utmost importance. If any local
church wants to succeed in evangelism this command must be obeyed. Do not quench the Spirit of God in your
life!
Christ never lost track
of His purpose on earth. To do the will
of God MUST be every believer’s priority!
“5 Wherefore
when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest
not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and
sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7 Then said I, Lo, I
come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will,
O God” (Hebrews 10:5-7).
DEFINING THE CHRIST-LIFE
Christ had
a purpose in this life. His life was
consumed with that purpose. He was sent
to earth on a search and rescue mission.
His purpose was the redemption of lost souls. That purpose was always before His face. Every action in His life was seen through
that purpose. His life was driven by
that purpose.
Secondly, there was a moral and spiritual urgency in the
life of Christ. Every waking hour of
His life was consumed with the salvation of souls. Even though He was the Son of God, He spent
much time in prayer telling His Father what He was going to do and asking for
His help. Although He was God, He was
also man. In His humanity He needed the
power of God on His life to fulfill His purpose in life. We are sent with that same purpose.
“Then said Jesus to them
again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I
you” (John 20:21).
Thirdly, Christ had a passion for people. That is
what is expressed in John 4:4, “He must needs go through Samaria.” The shortest route to Galilee from Judea was
through the country of Samaria. However,
most Jews made a detour around Samaria to avoid contact with these people. Christ did not. He had a passion for the lost.
“15 And it
came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and
sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many,
and they followed him. 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him
eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he
eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? 17 When Jesus heard
it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but
they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”
(Mark 2:15-17).
If Christ had not lived His life yielded to the leading
of the Holy Spirit and yielded to the will of God, neither His purpose nor His
passion would have been accomplished.
Until we realize that truth in our lives, we will never be
focused enough to fulfill the commission of God for our lives. All Christians have a purpose. However, it is our passion for Christ that
will motivate us to fulfill our purpose.
This is the priority of evangelism; our
passion for souls will flow out of our relationship with Christ.
Most Christians recognize their purpose. However, most do not understand the necessity
for passion. They pray for a burden
for souls, but it never comes. Passion
comes from God. God’s passion comes
from a right relationship with Him.
A burden for souls flows from a heart that views people through the
passion of Christ. There is only one way
that will happen, when our lives our controlled and empowered by God’s
Spirit.
Jesus and the disciples
were not wandering aimlessly from one place to another.
They were on a mission, not just a journey. The Spirit-filled Christians sees life as a mission. Christ had a plan for every moment of every
day of His life. In this portion of the
plan of Christ, He was teaching His disciples a lesson about viewing every
mission in life through the overall purpose of their calling in Christ (“as the
Father hath sent me, so send I you”). Every
Christian needs to learn this lesson.
“For the Son of man is
come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
The vision
that sees through the eyes of purpose and passion sees the potential for a
harvest in every soul. In John chapter four, the
Samaritan woman would become the vehicle Christ would use to bring most of the
city of Sychar to salvation. The mission
of evangelism is accomplished through referrals,
one satisfied person telling others how to get the new life Christ has given
them. As Spurgeon said, evangelism is
just “one beggar telling another beggar where to get bread.”
When the Samaritan woman went back to Sychar, she went back
referring people to Christ because she was infected with Christ’s purpose and
with His passion for souls. She viewed
Christ as a Person with genuine concern for her and her soul.
Purpose
without passion will always result in dead works and a fruitless
Christianity. Communicating the Gospel can be
nothing more than dead ritualism when it is done in the flesh and without Christ’s
passion for souls. The disciples went to
Sychar and failed to bring people to Christ because they did not see their
lives through the eyes of their overall missional purpose. The reason they failed to fulfill their
purpose was because they did not have Christ’s passion for souls.
They did not just need to see the city of Sychar through
the eyes of their purpose in Christ, they needed a change of heart
(passion). Without passion, Christianity
dies and evangelism dies with it (even when it is attempted).
“1 Though I
speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become
as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the
gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I
have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am
nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though
I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing” (I
Corinthians 13:1-3).
Passion is not about
feeling. Passion is about having the
heart of the Lord.
When our
lives are consumed with being like Christ, living for Christ, and being
faithful to Christ, our lives will be consumed with His purpose and filled with
His passion for souls.
“4 Abide in
me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in
the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye
are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).
“Say not ye, There are yet
four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up
your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” (John 4:35).
Christians are always waiting for God to do something. God is always doing something. God is usually waiting for believers to do
what He has commanded so He can bless them with His power. When our lives are consumed with being like
Christ, God will open our eyes to see what He is doing. When our lives see every moment through the
eyes of His purpose and with the passion of His heart, we will become involved
with harvesting the souls He has already made ripe.
When we are in the flesh to any degree, we quench the
Spirit of God in our lives. When the
Spirit is quenched, our eyes are darkened.
God’s workings are no longer visible and ripe fruit soon becomes rotten
fruit because it is never harvested.
How many souls have withered on the vine because our eyes were
focused on the things of this world rather than the things of Christ?
We need to believe and live the words of the hymn, “Give me
a passion for souls, dear Lord, A passion to save the lost; O that thy love
were by all adored, and welcomed at any cost . . . How shall this passion for
souls be mine? Lord, make Thou the
answer clear; Help me to throw out the old life-line to those who are
struggling near.”
The souls are there friends, but without Christ’s passion
(the fire of God’s Spirit burning within us) and the leading of the Spirit of
God we will never see who they are.
“37 Then saith
he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers
are few; 38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he
will send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38).
Disciples
are Christ-followers. True Christians are
personally involved in His mission, preaching His message of redemption,
possessing His passion for people, and are willing to die for His
purposes. These are the
characteristics of true DISCIPLES called CHRISTIANS (Acts 11:19). Dare not to take this honored title of
CHRISTIAN upon yourself until these characteristics are the everyday testimony
of your living. These characteristics
are antithetical and contrary to the ambiguous, shallow vagueness of the
modern-day use of the word Christian that identifies Christ-professors
with nothing and everything.
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Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist.
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.
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