Video Transcript: Possible Explanation for Lack of Success

Well, this is the last session that we're beginning three parts here. And then we come to the end. Once again, I want to congratulate you for sticking with it. That's 36 sessions by the time we're done. I hope you can go back over and over it again until you become a thoughtless local witness, till it just grabs a hold of you the way Jesus wants it to. I wonder how you're feeling about it now? Has it been good? You take a minute to think about it. Has it helped you along the way? You don't have to tell me thanks because I'm not there. Personally. I really need that as a sincere question, as it brought you along. Jesus needs workers in his harvest. And we saw those myths that can easily cause us to sit back and not do so much. So this last session we call Evangelink – a link brings two things together. And what we're talking now is the last session about bringing together all the things that we learned into action. 

But another part of evangelink is that you've got to be connected to somebody. You have to have someone to keep you accountable for what you promised and what you actually do. I want to ask you a question as we go into this last session. What if you never knew about Jesus? What if nobody ever talked to you about it? Where would you be? What if you died in your sin? Because your spouse or kid at school or your boss or somebody in the office, or another guy on the team knew about it, but never said a word to you? And you would die in your sin? Think about that would you. You know it says in the book of Lamentations what happened to God's people because that they were carried away as prisoners of war and their city was ransacked, and their place of worship was torn down. And one of them guy by name of Jeremiah wrote a little book called lamentation, he just mourned about what happened. And when he thought about his city he has these words, is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? And those words apply to Jesus on the cross. All these millions and millions of people? Is it nothing to you all you who pass by that Jesus is the only way of salvation. We are here. We are his workers. We are his vocal witnesses. Let's make it matter to them. 

Let's pray. Oh, Jesus. We just heard over and over again, how do you want the whole world saved? Our hearts are beginning to warm to that more and more. We're beginning to see that that's our our way of life. We don't think about the blood going through our veins. We don't think about our heart beating. And we want to get to the point where we just our vocal witnesses thoughtlessly for you. Help us today to understand what you have to say to us. We'd love you. Amen. 

Well, the last session that we're talking about here is wrapping up on our vocal witnessing, wrapping up on the teaching. And today, the part is possible explanation for lack of success, and I want you to underline the word possible. I don't know what it is. You might not know what it is. And we'll see as we study God's Word, maybe it's not clear. But he has opened that up to us. Possible lack of success. Maybe you've been trying, hopefully you have in the action sessions that we've had each week. You've been led along to get to the point where he would actually be out there witnessing vocally not only sowing the seed but bringing people to Christ. Have you done it?

Let's look at some possible reasons for a lack of success. First, I just want to look at this because of Jesus’ promises. Isaiah 55, verse 11, my word will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Look at that promise. You're not just going out selling a product. You are going with the actual word of the actual living God. And he says when my word goes out there, it will accomplish what I want it to. It's not just going to kind of fall to the ground, like it doesn't matter. You know that verse in Mark chapter one, where we saw you will become fishers of men, as a promise. He doesn't say maybe it will happen, or I'm hoping for this guys, but let's see. It's just there. You will become fishers of people. 

Or think of Matthew 16. Jesus says, I will build my church. He didn't say I'm going to try. He doesn't say if this or that doesn't happen. That promise is there that’s strength. I will build my church. And we looked at what he told to one of his vocal witnesses guy by name and Jeremiah. Same promise comes to us. He says to Jeremiah, my word is like a hammer, and it can break hard hearts. He said my words like a fire, and it can burn the wood that keeps people away from me. That's the promises that are given to us. We have to hold on to those. We studied about those myths. There's no myth about this. It's the truth. 

So if he has promised us success, what can the lack of success come from? Well, one would be personal sin. Here we have to examine our hearts. Maybe put it on pause and think about it. Am I a blockage in the pipe? Think of Isaiah 59: 1&2 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save nor his ear dull to hear. It's not the Lord's fault when there's no success. He wants the world to be saved. But your iniquities have separated you from your God and your sins have hidden His face from you so that he will not hear. Maybe this would be a good time to go on pause and just think where in my life is there ongoing sin. Where's there habitual sin? Where's there arrogant sin? Where's there unconfessed sin? One lack of success could be that God's hand is not too short to save. His ears not too heavy to hear you. But it could be our sin in between us and God so that God says, I'm not sure I can trust that person with my word. 

Well, maybe another lack of success would be failing to ask. James says in chapter four verse two, you do not have because you do not ask God. All along, we've asked you to identify a person who you suspect very strongly has not been saved. Week after week after week we've mentioned that person. Left the blank there for you to fill it in. Have you played some sports in the last two months that we've been been studying together? Have you gone to work? Have you gotten some sleep? If where you live they have television, have you watched some televisions programs. Have you hung around on the street with your friends? Have you taken some extra time at school or taking time off from school? How much time in all of that have you on your knees prayed for that person? How many times? How many times have you told God what you want for that person? How many times have you given up something in order to pray for that person? And then expanding from there, that you have a prayer list and you look it over and you pray for that uncle, you pray for that cousin, you pray for your boss, you pray for the fellow on the team with you. You pray for the leader of your country. How much time have you spent in praying for people to be saved? Maybe part of the reason for the lack of success could be failing to ask God. Nothing happens without him. 

Another reason could be wrong motives. James goes on to say in that passage chapter four verse three, when you ask you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives. You ask so that you may spend what you get on what you want. What is your motive in asking for a person to be saved? For him or for you, for her or for your church? For Jesus or for you? The motive. We studied. We studied this. The motive is that you want a person saved so that person can honor Jesus and the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit in him. Make that your prayer. That's the right word. Jesus, I want to see that person saved, not for me, not for our church, but for you. Because when that person is saved, becomes a new person in you. He will be or she will begin to live for the father and for you by the power of your Holy Spirit in them. So please do that Jesus. Take a look maybe pause now and say, Okay, what am I really been thinking when I want to see people saved. 

Another reason for a possible lack of success would be not knowing Jesus and here we are again. And I'll tell you the story once again about I believe it was Charles Spurgeon. Every week he would pray about being born again about being saved. Every week, preach about being saved, being saved. Finally, one of the deacons said, When are you going to quit preaching about being saved? And he said, when everybody's saved. When am I going to stop talking about people knowing Jesus personally, not knowing about him? This past Sunday in our church, we had a lady stand up and give a testimony. 60 years old, and she said for 60 years I knew about Jesus. But I didn't know him until two weeks ago. And now I know him and she has such a smile on her face. Could be when we ask and when we asked with the right motive, it's like Jesus saying who's a stranger here? I don't know her. I don't know him. One of the reasons for lack of success could be that you really don't know Jesus and just know about him. Pause again here. And if that's true, and now's the time, now's the time to make it right. And then come back again. 

There's some other reasons for what lack of success might be. This is an encouragement for you. People might not be ready. Jesus went around teaching, healing 1000s. Many were following him. And yet in Matthew chapter 13, verse 58, it says, And he didn't do many miracles there because of their lack of faith, their lack of faith. That might be it. If you have prayed, if you prayed with the right motive, if you have begun to give that vocal testimony, and the person doesn't receive it, you have to leave it in the Lord's hands. That person might not be ready. You can't pick green fruit. And so you pray and you get ready. And you know that the Lord is leading you to testify to that person. And it might be that that's all you can do at that point. That person just doesn't receive it. He looks at you with a question in his eyes. So what he's talking about or what it might be. Might be that person is not ready. 

Another reason for lack of success could be God's plan. This is a big one. Paul went all over the world preaching a great success. He started a ton of churches, all sorts of people came to Christ through him and how he explained it he said I planted the seed, Apollo's watered it but God has been making it grow. And this is a very careful one and a tough one that we have to think about. We have said on one hand, God wants everybody in the world to be saved. And yet we know on the other hand, not everyone is saved. And here we stand before God's plan, not our plan, God's plan. Some people don't end up being saved. He hasn't told us why. The burden is on our side that we have to believe. And yet some people don't believe. Maybe God doesn't give the increase there. But it's still that person who doesn't believe this is very tough. I wanted to share it with you because the question in all of our minds, but if it comes up, think about it, and then put it off to the side. It doesn't stop our going out. We know that someday God is gonna explain it. It's not it's not gonna affect us being vocal witnesses. We're gonna go on for him. But sometime when we plant that seed and expect to reap it, and the church comes along and causes it to grow, and the person doesn't believe. Might be God's plan. 

And one more that we want to look at God has promised that success, so what can lack of success be? It could be misunderstanding success. Jesus sent His disciples out and they came back all excited, Oh, Jesus, you wouldn't believe what's happening. He said, what's happening so well. We're casting out demons. We're healing sick people. It's been wonderful. And they're so excited. And Jesus said, You know what, when you do that work, you're knocking Satan right off his throne. But I want to tell you, my friends, don't let that be your joy. Let your joy be that you belong to me. That's real success. And that's what we have to think about. Maybe we think success is a growing church. Maybe we think success is all sorts of people accepting Christ. That's great. But in all of that, we have to remember that our names are written in Jesus personal handbook. He knows us. He loves us, and he's taking care of us. So it might be that he doesn't have that in mind for us. Maybe another person I've had that I've testified to people visited them, opened the word to them, and a week later, someone else leads them across the line to Christ. 

I read in some material that in the Billy Graham crusade, they said once it takes over seven presentations for a person to come to Christ. Our goal, our planning is for everyone to be saved. And if they don't come through you, maybe we misunderstand success. We have planted, we've tried to reap someone else's watered. And God has not given the increase. We've worked with this person worked with that person tried so hard, we say well I guess I failed. You never fail, when you are a vocal witness for Jesus Christ. We have to understand what success really is. Success is being a worker in Christ harvest, being a vocal witness for Him, bringing people across the line and when they don't come, to leave them in God's hands. 

Let's pray about that. Dear Jesus, some things are so clear to us and other things are mystery. We don't know why everybody isn't saved when we tell them the gospel is crazy. But You do. And so we're going to keep on being vocal witnesses and trusting in your plan and in your power. Through us, Jesus, win many souls to yourself, we love you, amen.