Don’t Stop at Your Failure
Failure does not have to be a defeat. It’s how you react after the failure that will
determine whether you are defeated. Let’s look through the scriptures to see the
different reactions.
Adam and Eve fell into the trap of the serpent (the devil). God had told Adam “of
every tree of the garden you may freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat thereof you shall
surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). Yet the serpent being cunning said to Eve “you shall
not surely die. For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the
woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and
a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and
gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were
opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together;
and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord Yahweh walking
in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the
presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called
to Adam, and said to him, where are you”? You see that Adam and Eve hid from the
presence of God, they tried to cover themselves and yielded to their defeat, and
gave their dominion over to the devil.
Moses failed when he killed the Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew man and then
had to run for his life (Exodus 2:11-14) “and it came to pass in those days, when
Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren, and looked on their burdens; and
he spied an Egyptian fighting a Hebrew; one of his brethren. And he looked this way
and that way and when he saw that there was no man; he slew the Egyptian, and hid
him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the
Hebrews struggled together; and he said to him that did the wrong, wherefore smite
you your fellow? And he said, who made you a prince and a judge over us? Intend
you to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, surely this
thing is known”. Moses was called to be the deliverer, but he failed by using the flesh
to carry out God’s plan. Now after being forty years in the desert, God called him at
the burning bush, and he was used mightily of God.
Saul was made the first king over Israel; however, he disobeyed the commands of
God and then tried to blame it on the people under his charge. “Samuel also said to
Saul, the Lord Yahweh sent me to anoint you to be king over His people, over Israel;
now therefore hearken you to the voice of the words of the Lord Yahweh. Thus says
the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek, did to Israel, how he laid wait for
him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly
destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant
and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. And Saul smote the Amalekites from
Havilah until you come to Shur, that is opposite Egypt. And he took Agag the king of
the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen,
and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly
destroy them; but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, blessed be you of the Lord Yahweh,
I have performed the commandment of the Lord Yahweh. And Samuel said, what
means then this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I
hear? Samuel said “and the Lord Yahweh sent you on a journey and said, go and
utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be
consumed. Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord Yahweh, but did fly
upon the spoil, and did evil in the sight of the Lord Yahweh”? Saul then said to
Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord Yahweh, and have gone the way
which the Lord Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of the Amalek, and
have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and
oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to
the Lord Yahweh your God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, has the Lord Yahweh as
great delight in burned offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord
Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of
rams”. (I Samuel 1-3,7-9,13-14,18-22). As you continue to read that the Lord
Yahweh rent the kingdom of Israel from Saul, however Saul would not let go of the
kingdom and continued to act as king, even trying to kill David three times because
he knew that David was anointed king. King Saul never repented.
David in his sin with Bathsheba fell into sin and committed adultery and then had her
husband killed (II Samuel 11:1-3) “and it came to pass, after the year was expired, at
the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with
him, and all Israel, and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah,
But David tarried still at Jerusalem. And it came to pass in an evening tide that David
walked upon the roof of the king’s house and from the roof, he saw a woman washing
herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and
enquired after the woman, and one said, is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of
Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite”? So David sent and took her, and when she
became pregnant, David sent for her husband to come home, so he could say that
the child was of her husbands, but when Uriah came home, he would not go into his
house, but slept at the door of the king’s house, so David sent a letter with him, which
told Joab to set him in the forefront of the hottest battle, so he would be killed. And
David married Bathsheba, thinking he had gotten away with it, but when Nathan the
prophet revealed it to him, he repented, read (Psalms 51). He repented of his failure,
and God was able to use him mightily. David was called “a man after God’s own
heart”.
Jesus tells the woman which was caught in adultery to go and sin no more, after her
accusers had all gone out from the temple (John 8:3-11); and the scribes and
Pharisees brought to Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in
the midst. They say to Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very
act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned; but what say
You? They were trying to find fault in Jesus, but Jesus lifted up Himself, and said to
them, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And they
which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one,
beginning at the eldest, even to the last; and Jesus said to her, woman where are
those your accusers? Have no man condemned you? She said no man, Lord, and
Jesus said to her, neither do I condemn you go, and sin no more. She recognized
that Jesus was Lord.
Peter claimed that he would die for Jesus, yet he denied Jesus three times (John 13:
37-38, 18:25-27) “Peter said to Him, Lord, why cannot I follow You now? I will lay
down my life for Your sake. Jesus answered him, will you lay down your life for My
sake? Verily, verily, I say to you, the cock shall not crow, till you have denied Me
thrice”. Yet when Jesus was arrested, and taken to Caiaphas house “and Simon
Peter stood and warmed himself, they said therefore to him, are not you also one of
His disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not. One of the servants of the high
priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, said, did not I see you in the
garden with Him? Peter then denied again and immediately the cock crew” and as he
recognized his failure and went out and cried bitterly, God used him mightily in Acts
chapter 2, we see that he preached to the people and three thousand were saved.
Paul tells us that “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”. Falling
down won’t make you a failure, staying down does (Proverbs 24:16) says “for a just
man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked shall fall into mischief”. We
have good news in I John 1:9 it says “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. So when you fail,
don’t hid from God, but run to God, so He can give you the strength to overcome
your problem.*
Peter tells us how to never stumble (II Peter 1:4-10) “whereby are given to us
exceeding great and precious promises; that by these you might be partakers of the
divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And
beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge. And
to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness.
And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity (love). For if
these things be in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren
nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacks these
things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and has forgotten that he was purged from
his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and
election sure; for if you do these things, you shall never fall”.
We see in Psalms 119:9-11 the Psalmist says “wherewithal shall a young man
cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Your word. With my whole
heart have I sought you, O let me not wander from Your commandments. Your word
have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You”. We have to remember that
the word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: April 30, 2010
Failure does not have to be a defeat. It’s how you react after the failure that will
determine whether you are defeated. Let’s look through the scriptures to see the
different reactions.
Adam and Eve fell into the trap of the serpent (the devil). God had told Adam “of
every tree of the garden you may freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat thereof you shall
surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). Yet the serpent being cunning said to Eve “you shall
not surely die. For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the
woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and
a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and
gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were
opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together;
and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord Yahweh walking
in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the
presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called
to Adam, and said to him, where are you”? You see that Adam and Eve hid from the
presence of God, they tried to cover themselves and yielded to their defeat, and
gave their dominion over to the devil.
Moses failed when he killed the Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew man and then
had to run for his life (Exodus 2:11-14) “and it came to pass in those days, when
Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren, and looked on their burdens; and
he spied an Egyptian fighting a Hebrew; one of his brethren. And he looked this way
and that way and when he saw that there was no man; he slew the Egyptian, and hid
him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the
Hebrews struggled together; and he said to him that did the wrong, wherefore smite
you your fellow? And he said, who made you a prince and a judge over us? Intend
you to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, surely this
thing is known”. Moses was called to be the deliverer, but he failed by using the flesh
to carry out God’s plan. Now after being forty years in the desert, God called him at
the burning bush, and he was used mightily of God.
Saul was made the first king over Israel; however, he disobeyed the commands of
God and then tried to blame it on the people under his charge. “Samuel also said to
Saul, the Lord Yahweh sent me to anoint you to be king over His people, over Israel;
now therefore hearken you to the voice of the words of the Lord Yahweh. Thus says
the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek, did to Israel, how he laid wait for
him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly
destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant
and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. And Saul smote the Amalekites from
Havilah until you come to Shur, that is opposite Egypt. And he took Agag the king of
the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen,
and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly
destroy them; but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, blessed be you of the Lord Yahweh,
I have performed the commandment of the Lord Yahweh. And Samuel said, what
means then this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I
hear? Samuel said “and the Lord Yahweh sent you on a journey and said, go and
utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be
consumed. Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord Yahweh, but did fly
upon the spoil, and did evil in the sight of the Lord Yahweh”? Saul then said to
Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord Yahweh, and have gone the way
which the Lord Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of the Amalek, and
have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and
oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to
the Lord Yahweh your God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, has the Lord Yahweh as
great delight in burned offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord
Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of
rams”. (I Samuel 1-3,7-9,13-14,18-22). As you continue to read that the Lord
Yahweh rent the kingdom of Israel from Saul, however Saul would not let go of the
kingdom and continued to act as king, even trying to kill David three times because
he knew that David was anointed king. King Saul never repented.
David in his sin with Bathsheba fell into sin and committed adultery and then had her
husband killed (II Samuel 11:1-3) “and it came to pass, after the year was expired, at
the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with
him, and all Israel, and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah,
But David tarried still at Jerusalem. And it came to pass in an evening tide that David
walked upon the roof of the king’s house and from the roof, he saw a woman washing
herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and
enquired after the woman, and one said, is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of
Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite”? So David sent and took her, and when she
became pregnant, David sent for her husband to come home, so he could say that
the child was of her husbands, but when Uriah came home, he would not go into his
house, but slept at the door of the king’s house, so David sent a letter with him, which
told Joab to set him in the forefront of the hottest battle, so he would be killed. And
David married Bathsheba, thinking he had gotten away with it, but when Nathan the
prophet revealed it to him, he repented, read (Psalms 51). He repented of his failure,
and God was able to use him mightily. David was called “a man after God’s own
heart”.
Jesus tells the woman which was caught in adultery to go and sin no more, after her
accusers had all gone out from the temple (John 8:3-11); and the scribes and
Pharisees brought to Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in
the midst. They say to Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very
act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned; but what say
You? They were trying to find fault in Jesus, but Jesus lifted up Himself, and said to
them, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And they
which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one,
beginning at the eldest, even to the last; and Jesus said to her, woman where are
those your accusers? Have no man condemned you? She said no man, Lord, and
Jesus said to her, neither do I condemn you go, and sin no more. She recognized
that Jesus was Lord.
Peter claimed that he would die for Jesus, yet he denied Jesus three times (John 13:
37-38, 18:25-27) “Peter said to Him, Lord, why cannot I follow You now? I will lay
down my life for Your sake. Jesus answered him, will you lay down your life for My
sake? Verily, verily, I say to you, the cock shall not crow, till you have denied Me
thrice”. Yet when Jesus was arrested, and taken to Caiaphas house “and Simon
Peter stood and warmed himself, they said therefore to him, are not you also one of
His disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not. One of the servants of the high
priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, said, did not I see you in the
garden with Him? Peter then denied again and immediately the cock crew” and as he
recognized his failure and went out and cried bitterly, God used him mightily in Acts
chapter 2, we see that he preached to the people and three thousand were saved.
Paul tells us that “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”. Falling
down won’t make you a failure, staying down does (Proverbs 24:16) says “for a just
man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked shall fall into mischief”. We
have good news in I John 1:9 it says “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. So when you fail,
don’t hid from God, but run to God, so He can give you the strength to overcome
your problem.*
Peter tells us how to never stumble (II Peter 1:4-10) “whereby are given to us
exceeding great and precious promises; that by these you might be partakers of the
divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And
beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge. And
to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness.
And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity (love). For if
these things be in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren
nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacks these
things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and has forgotten that he was purged from
his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and
election sure; for if you do these things, you shall never fall”.
We see in Psalms 119:9-11 the Psalmist says “wherewithal shall a young man
cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Your word. With my whole
heart have I sought you, O let me not wander from Your commandments. Your word
have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You”. We have to remember that
the word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: April 30, 2010
