The Truth About Failure

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with A little later in the program will tell you how you can get a copy of Dr. Graham book heaven. First, here's the message about failure to God's word and turn with me please to chapter 26 that his gospel. Have you ever failed.

I mean failed miserably you so long for desperately desired that your marriage would succeed with your marriage is not a success. Or maybe your marriage has failed and you're wondering why and you're wondering why on the failure or maybe you wanted so desperately your career to succeed, but your career has hit rock bottom you want to be a great parent and to be a success. Above all things you wanted to be a great parent. But if you look at your family and maybe look at your kids they're in trouble of their amassing you thinking have I failed as a parent, or maybe you set spiritual goals for your life came to faith in Jesus Christ, that you were determined to be the greatest Christian ever live you set spiritual goals for your life and follow Christ and to fulfill his calling upon your life but you ended up failure spiritually in your own mind.

Perhaps a fractured you've fallen in some way. Well, if you ever failed and guess what we've all fail to fail is what human but to find forgiveness is divine. Any of you have failed. You are in good company because when I read my Bible. I discover again and again. Men and women who who fail, but they refused to allow their failure to be final in their life and ultimately they failed forward as they discovered the goodness in the grace and the power of their God to over come.

Peter was a failure.

He was one of the main men of Jesus. A disciple of Christ in the inner circle of the disciples of Christ. One. Among many a man among men. Jesus said this is the kind of man who is confessing me that I'm going to use in a great way. And yet Peter say you miserable. We read about that failure. Beginning in verse 69 of chapter 26 and were breaking into the story.

Christ is been arrested he's on trial facing his execution.

Crucifixion and Peter is outside in the courtyard. According to verse 2669 of chapter 26, and a servant girl came to him and said, you also were with Jesus of Galilee, but he denied it before them all.

I don't know what you're talking about. He said then he went out to the gateway where another girl saw him and said to the people there. This fellow was with Jesus of that, he denied it again with a note. I don't know the man and after a little while those standing there went up to Peter and said surely you are one of them for your accent gives you what. Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them. I don't know the man immediately a rooster crowed.

And then Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times and he went outside and wept bitterly. What happened to Simon Peter, how could this man say so miserably. How could this collapse be so utterly, utterly miserable. He's miserable, weeping, and yet Peter got up off the canvas and ultimately God restored him and renewed him and he became the great preacher on the day of Pentecost, the leader of the church because failure was not fine when I want to show you in your life that no matter how you may have failed the Lord maybe you are in the midst of some failure. Even now, it could be some gross sin in your life.

It could be some moral collapse some denial of Christ.

When you wanted to stand for Christ. But you didn't and you feel like a failure will how can you come back well in order to find out how to find forgiveness then you have to be forewarned, because to be forewarned is to be for on that. I think we can learn some things if we will just take a look as to how Peter ultimately failed. What was the cause of his failure, and there are some steps that we see here. This didn't happen overnight.

This was a blowout but it was a gradual process, a decline in Peter's life that set him up for this failure and what happened to Simon Peter can happen to you and me. If were not careful what were the seductive step so that we can avoid step number one simply pride.

Simply put, it is pride. One of Peter's problems was that he trusted too much in his own ability. He was overcome by an overdose of overconfidence in his like that in some sense Peter had a right to feel assured and confident Jesus had picked him out as a great leader and so Peter's getting a little bit puffed up, and when you meet Peter in the Scripture. He's the bold one. The big fisherman every time he opens his mouth is to exchange feet because he so often sticking his foot in his mouth. One or the other, and yet he was the kind of man that you could count on.

And because he was had the potential to be a mighty instrument in the hand of God. He was a target of the end he was a target for Satan because the devil loves a shining mark and if you have potential to be used of God and you do you also are a target for the enemy.

Jesus said to Simon Peter in Luke 22 in verse 32. Satan wants to have you. He wants to see if you like wheat. He wants to grind you in the powder.

Peter but I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail so you think you will. I wish Jesus was praying for me that my faith would fail was a matter of fact he is praying for you because as built as a believer he ever lives to make intercession for you. These praying for you, so that your faith will not fail. And yet somehow in this entire process of growing up Peter's life. He became overconfident.

Verse 35 of the same chapter 26 of Matthew as Jesus has gathered his disciples at the Last Supper.

He says one and he was going to betray me and Peter speaks up.

Once again, he says, not me, Lord, all the rest of these, they may deny you. They may run, but not me. I'm the one guy around here you can, I'm the one man who strong enough to take this I will never fail you, Lord, I will never ever deny you and that's when Jesus predicted, he said, as a matter of fact Peter, you're going to deny me three times before the rooster crows in the morning.

Once again Peter boasted denying the Lord himself. The words of the Lord. He said all know Lord, not me. I will never deny you will Peter didn't know himself. Jesus knew Peter like he knows me and you a lot better than we know ourselves.

The Bible says the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked who can know it is rather amusing to me when someone undergirds a statement by saying well if I know my own heart. This is true, what you don't know your heart. Only God knows your heart, and there is not one among us who could not fail and fall.

If we are not spiritually prepared. This is a danger we all face. Peter was not prepared for the danger in the darkness that he he could not have them imagine the experience. He was about to endure how dark the darkness would be how evil the evil would be any self-confidence and pride had setting up for his sin. That's why the Scripture says in first Corinthians 10. In verse 12. Let him who stands take heed, pay attention last you fall, the potential for sin is in all of us, even after we come to Christ because there is a dual nature.

There is the desire to do what is right and to do it all the time, but there is this part of his lag of the old life and of the flash that closes down and there's always the propensity there's always the proclivity.

There is always the potential in a believer's life to fail and fall if we began relying upon our own self. If we neglect our dependence upon God, our spiritual devotion.

If we do these things we are in danger of defeat. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message. The truth about failure. Even in Mike's happiest moments, the promise of heaven holds out and encouraging hope for you today. When you understand what your future with God will be like the burdens of the present film writer. That's a pastor grants but heaven is all about and it's why we want to get a copy into your hands today heaven is our thanks for your gift to help share the truth of the gospel to more people around the world to call now to request your copy of heaven. When you get: 800-7956 27 that's 1-800-795-4627.

You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789 and don't forget to visit Jack M.org could shop our E store. Give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotion our website again is Jack Graham.Archie now is get back today's message truth about failure to notice that we are all often attacked point not of our weakness but about strength. Think about Abraham, when you say that Abraham's strength was his way to strong faith that went out following God even though he didn't know exactly where he was going.

He was just trusting God. He was a man of faith.

He is the father of the faithful, and yet he was attacked at the point of this faith and when he began to rely upon himself.

He took his handmaiden, Hagar slept with her produced a child outside of the will of God because he was unwilling to trust God is God promise him a son.

Satan attacked the point made history. Think about Elijah when you say that Elijah's strength was his boldness and his courage. He stood on Mount caramel one day and faced off against the prophets of bail the call down fire from heaven and God sent a mighty revival.

Profits of Vail were slain that day. It was a great victory for Yahweh God and yet when he was threatened by the Queen Jezebel. He was so afraid that he ran into the desert got under a little stick trio broom tree brush tree and prayed to die.

He was so red that he was willing to die wanted Satan attacked them at the point of the strength, his courage same was true with Peter. Peter was bold. Peter was always the one willing to confess Christ willing to stand up for Christ and now he's attacked at the point of the strength why is that it was J.

Oswald Chambers, the great devotional writer who said an unguarded strength is a double weakness and unguarded strength is a double weakness. Why, because if we're not careful, we begin to rely upon our strength is easier for us. We can do. And rather than depending upon God and guarding what God has given us. We rely upon cell and we are set up for failure. It was his pride, his neglect of his own dependence upon God. That set them up but that his pride produce something else and that was paralysis and pride will produce prayerless this every time when you read the story of Jesus and his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, for example, in chapter 26 of Matthew versus 40 and 41 we read that Jesus told his disciples to wait and to pray while he went on a little farther in the garden, and these disciples went to sleep while Jesus was praying while Jesus was agonize, they could hear his sob. While Jesus was pouring out. Sweat drops of blood in preparation for the cross as he is surrendering his new life to the will of God.

The will of the father, the disciples are sound asleep. Jesus said couldn't wait to pray just one hour peers. Pride produced prayerless. This did not Jesus tell us that we are to overcome the enemy in prayer. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Every day we face temptation and Satan is on the prowl, seeking whom he may devour. And that's why we must not be self-confident and rely upon our own abilities to get by the get through, but we must fall on our faces and ask for God's power to enable us to resist the attacks of the enemy. We are no match for Satan on our own. You don't have a chance.

You have a chance overcome temptation in your life in this generation. Apart from a life of believing prayer. I am no stronger than my prayer life and it is my pride that causes me to neglect prayer and self-sufficiency is self-deception and on the other hand, prayer produces the power of Jesus Christ in my life, enabling me to trust him to count on him to believe in him and to overcome the works of the enemy in my life and against my life, but there was something else in this process. The spiritual decline is Peter became a spiritual casualty that was pride there was prayerless this and then people just people because you will note here when Jesus was arrested. The disciples did fleet as deeply as Jesus predicted was so much fear that they just ran away and then the crowd began to gather around the trial and Peter decided to get into the crowd and just follow along.

I remember he self-confident is prayerless is prideful and he gets into this crowd, and he thinks you know I'm just going to get out a little bit close on the get as close as I can but not too close to the Bible says in Luke 22 verse 54 that he followed it a great this this was a man he was close to Christ. But now he's in the crowd at a distance for Christ step-by-step as he followed the crowd. He moved a little closer a little closer and ultimately he moved inside near the palace of the high priest and he sent down by a fire in the high priest palace and he is warming his hand by the fire with the enemies of Christ. Now watch this.

First, he's walking with the crown, then he's standing with the crowd and then he sitting with the crowd.

The remember what song chapter 1 says about the godly man the blessed man the righteous man listen to Psalm 11 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful walking, standing, sitting, that's what Peter he's at a distance from crises on the fringes. Like many people in church sitting in the shadow sitting in the fringes.

Maybe you feel broken made you feel like a failure when you don't know what to do with your life and you're not committing you're not close to Christ are following Christ at a distant ultimately you're following the crowd and you're sitting with the crowd you all and know that bad company corrupts good morals.

According to the Scripture or his one dad said to his son. You run with the dogs and you'll end up with fleas and that's what happens to a spiritual if we start listening to the counsel of the ungodly, sitting in the seat of the cynics in the and and the scornful. This is the sad commentary of many a person I've seen it so often as men and women informally walk with God began to separate themselves from the heart in the life of Christ and his church and his people and start running with the wrong crowd and hanging with the wrong people and before you know it there pride which is produced prayerless. This brings them to people who don't even know the Lord.

I'm not talking about sharing our witness and loving people he don't know Christ I'm talking about listening and loving this world and its pleasures and the people you don't know Christ Santa Bible says a companion of fools will be destroyed. Peter was in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong group of people so three times. He said I don't know I'm I don't know him.

I don't know.

We and he went down he fell and he fell hard and the cost of this failure, he lost his testimony with everyone around miserable that a Christian out of fellowship with God. That's misery personified. You can't live like that. He went out and he wept bitterly because at the right time at the right moment that rooster crowed. And Peter knew he was head. Thank God that's not the end of the story is Simon Peter must've thought it was the end one day he said you know I'm going fishing. That meant he was going back to his old job as a way of life is never going to be the same, never to be used of God anymore never going to be able to serve Christ again, even after the resurrection.

He had these doubts and fears that his failure with spinal but it was and he could've known he should've known because even in the crowing of that rooster that day there was a promise throughout crowing of a rooster me it means a new day's coming. It was at the end, it was the promise of a new beginning. The dawning of a new day. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, your mercies are new every morning and if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness is in the loving kindness of God that we can be restored and we can be renewed. How when we repent of our sin, which means to turn from our sin and say Lord, I'm sorry that I'm broken over my sin. I confess it. And Lord, I ask you to renew me and restore me and give me a brand-new beginning in my life and I promise you, according to God's word that failure never has to be final.

When you find the for goodness and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and is never too late for a new beginning in Jesus Christ.

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My hope is that you learn. Failure Simon Peter today and that you can avoid the same spiritual meat. As a result, Peter was a man of incredible potential and had determined to leave everything else behind to follow Christ.

Yet he failed a very crucial moment by denying the Lord so there many things we can learn from Peter's life and his failure like how to avoid pride in prayerless this and following the crowd. Peter went from walking in the counsel of the ungodly to standing in the paths of sinners to finally sit in the seat of the scornful.

While it is important for believers to get in the world and witness to others.

We need to make sure that we guard ourselves against becoming worldly.

The good news is that there is hope. If you have failed spiritually.

There is forgiveness and mercy from the Lord. Simon Peter was forgiven and commissioned again to go and be a powerful preacher for Christ. God used him again, and God will use you again if you come to him in repentance and faith.

He will restore you. Do you need to be restored because of some kind of failure today. If so, ask him to renew your heart right now and when you come back to him. You will find forgiveness and a new beginning as a believer. Failure is never final.

And remember, you can fail forward.

If you fall upon the grace and mercy Lord and that is today. Remember when you give a gift to PowerPoint sing.ram heaven is our thanks. Call one 800-7954 627-1800 795467 also text the word PowerPoint 259789 to join us again next time. As Dr. Graham brings a message you can endure next time.

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