The Quickening

Text:  Romans 8:11 ‍But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by‍^d‍ his Spirit that dwelleth in you. ‍^[1]

The quickening of the Holy Ghost is the answer for every human being on planet earth.  It was the answer when it was first given, and it is the answer now!

The word quicken here is to make alive.   When sin took place in the garden, spiritual death was the awful result.  Now all people need the quickening.

A teacher in New York decided to honor each of her seniors in high school by telling them the difference they each made.  Using a process developed by Helice Bridges of Del Mar, California, she called each student to the front of the class, one at a time.  First she told them how the student made a difference to her and the class.  Then she presented each of them with a blue ribbon imprinted with gold letters which read:  WHO I AM MAKES A DIFFERENCE!

Afterwards the teacher decided to do a class project to see what kind of impact recognition would have on a community.  She gave each of the students three more ribbons and instructed them to go out and spread this acknowledgment  ceremony.  Then they were to follow up on the results and report back to the class in about a week.

One of the boys went to a junior executive in a nearby company and honored him for helping him with his career planning.  He gave him the blue ribbon, two extra ribbons and said, “We’re doing a class project on recognition, and we’d like you to go out, find somebody to honor, and give them a blue ribbon, then give them the extra ribbon so they can acknowledge a third person to keep this acknowledgment ceremony going.  Then please report back to me and tell me what happened.”

Later that day the junior executive went to his boss, a grouchy fellow. He told him he deeply admired him for being creative, and then asked him to acknowledge someone else with the remaining ribbon.

The boss was greatly surprised to receive the honor.  That night he came home and said to his 14-year old son, “The most incredible thing happened to me today.  One of the junior executives came in today and told me he admired me and gave me a blue ribbon for being a creative genius.  Imagine!  I started thinking about whom I would honor and I thought about you.  I want to honor you.  My days are hectic and when I come home I don’t pay a lot of attention to you.  Sometimes I scream at you for not getting good grades or leaving your room in a mess…..but somehow tonight, I just wanted to let you know that you do make a difference.  Besides your mother, you are the most important person in my life.  You’re a great kid and I love you!”

The startled boy started to sob and sob and couldn’t stop crying.  His whole body shook.  He looked up through his tears and said, “I was planning on committing suicide tomorrow, Dad, because I didn’t think you loved me.  Now I don’t need to.”

John 3:14 ‍And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:‍ ¹⁵ ‍That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.‍ ¹⁶ ‍For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.‍ ¹⁷ ‍For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.‍ ^[2]

I John 4:7 ‍Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born‍^a‍ of God, and knoweth God. ‍ ⁸ ‍He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.‍ ⁹ ‍In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.‍ ¹⁰ ‍Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.‍ ¹¹ ‍Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.‍ ¹² ‍No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.‍ ¹³ ‍Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.‍ ^[3]

There came a time when Jesus influence far surpassed John’s ministry, and John had such love for the Savior that he in fact wanted it that way.  Jesus was on his way to Galilee, passing through Samaria.  Jesus came to the place near Sychar  that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.  This was the place of Jacob’s well.  Jesus was tiered and he sat on the well.  Then comes along this woman of Samaria to draw water and Jesus asked for a drink.

This request threw the Samaritan woman for a loop because a Jew was not supposed to have any dealings with Samaritans.

Jesus rocked her very foundation:  “If you knew the gift of God and  who you were talking to, you would be the one asking for living water!”

Her response was this:  Are you greater than our father Jacob?

Jesus again rocked her world:  You will thirst again if all you have is water from this well.  But let me tell you about a source of water that if you drink, you will never thirst again!”

            The result will be everlasting life!!!!!!

The other night, our church unanimously voted in favor of drilling for a new well here, but can I say that there is a well that cannot be drilled by man.  It is a well that only the Lord can drill!  The good news is that it is already drilled and all you have to do is come and take a drink!!

Jesus ministered to this woman in the supernatural realm of knowledge.  It so stirred her that he told her:  ²³ ‍But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.‍ ²⁴ ‍God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.‍^[4]

Jesus did not hide the fact that he was the Messiah from her, why?  Because she was not full of skepticism.  There is a blinding spirit of skepticism that will keep people away from the quickening.

God is here to give life.  God is here to fill with His Spirit.  God is a Spirit, and God is love.  The Spirit of God is a loving Spirit.  The Spirit of God will not do damage to anyone who makes a move toward Him to seek him!

The Holy Ghost will be all to you that Jesus was to the disciples while he was present with them.  The Holy Ghost will comfort you, counsel you, guide you, strengthen you, help you, be an advocate for you, be on standby for you.  The Holy Ghost keeps us in divine health.  The Holy Ghost will be available to you to run off the enemy.  Satan cannot stand to be around the Holy Ghost.

God wants to quicken us to newness of life each and every day.  God wants to give us fresh vision right where we are so we can truly make an impact on the world around us. The kind of impact we will have is in the realm of the supernatural.  Think about it!  How long have you been in church, and how long has it been since you ministered to somebody in a supernatural way?

Just this afternoon my mother-in-law called me with a word from the Lord!  It strengthened my faith.  We need so much more of that, but we become crippled by our own fear, but the Holy Ghost is here to break down that fear.  Whatever in the world are we afraid of anyway?  We are the ones who have been commissioned with this wonderful quickening power!

God gave me a passage to close with that is exactly for our church right now during these trying times:  This passage is not just for somebody else here tonight, but this is for every person in this building right now:  Psalm 143⁷‍Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. ‍ ⁸ ‍Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.‍ ⁹ ‍Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. ‍ ¹⁰ ‍Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.‍ ¹¹ ‍Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.^[5]

Put your trust in God and he will bring you out of all trouble!

Just because you may feel small and insignificant at times does not mean that is true:  think about the start of the Amazon river: The mighty Amazon begins as a mere, icy trickle from an Andes glacier.

As the Amazon surges across the torrid wilderness, hundreds of tributaries pour their waters into it. Torrential rains swell the flood. Now the Amazon is no longer a river; it is, instead, a moving inland sea that drains nearly half of South America.  So great is the river’s power that even when it reaches the Atlantic the Amazon refuses to die. It floods the ocean with fresh, muddy water for up to 100 miles offshore. ^[6]

God’s desire for us tonight is to be quickened way down on the inside, and that happens as we enter into deep worship.  I’m not talking about the surface stuff, but I mean the deep stuff.  The place where true communion with the Father becomes reality!