Your Failure is NOT Final!

Our church had the privilege of having Rev. Robert Manning, an adjunct professor from the Washington Bible College, bring the message as a guest speaker recently. The title of his sermon was, "Your Failure is NOT Final".

It was one of those sermons where you deeply regret that you didn't have a video camera to record it. Over and over, I am impressed by the caliber of men and women that have dedicated their lives at WBC to teach young people how to minister to others.

If you find yourself in need of a speaker then I heartily recommend Rev. Manning. Check out his blog.

But, be sure someone remembers to record it for those that might miss it! I won't make that mistake the next time.

Now, here is the text of his message:

Your Failure is not Final

Robert (Bobby) Manning
Luke 22:31-32

Principle: We should not become discouraged when we fail in our walk with Christ because our failure does not mean we can no longer be effective in Christ
Program: We must recognize the plan of our enemy, maximize the persistence of our faith, and also understand that our failures often can produce a positive outcome
Promise: If we understand the grace of our Father, our failures can and will have positive outcomes

Introduction:

Illustration: A few years ago, a gentleman by the name of John Elway was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. John Elway was known as the “Comeback King.” As John Elway was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it occurred to me that John Elway will be remembered as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game of football. While I thought about this, I also realized that John Elway failed… a lot. I can even remember when I was six years old, running around the living room celebrating as the Washington Redskins ran all over the Denver Broncos for one of the three times that John Elway lost the Super Bowl. But no one will ever remember that John Elway lost so much, but as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game of football.

There are many other stories like his. Thomas Edison failed over and over in his experiments, but we will remember him as the man who created the light bulb. Abraham Lincoln lost election after election, but we will remember him as the Emancipating Proclamating, Gettysburg Addressing 16th President of our Union.

Where have you failed? Maybe you’ve given away your virginity… Maybe you got that young lady pregnant... maybe you aborted that baby... maybe you dropped out of school... maybe you failed that class… maybe you've failed a marriage... parenting... The message for you today is that Your Failure is not Final.

One of my professors at Dallas Seminary, Dr. Jim Allman, stated in one of our classes: “Because we live in a totally depraved world rather than a perfect world, our goal as the church should not be to teach people how to succeed, but how to fail.” If we spend too much time teaching people how to succeed, when they fail, they won’t know how to get back up. By teaching folks how to fail, we are in actuality teaching people how to bounce back.

Here we find Peter right on the verge of failure. Before this chapter ends, Peter will hastily strike a Roman guard and cut his ear off. Also before the end of this chapter, Peter will infamously deny Christ three times. Jesus is aware of this and prepares Peter for what will happen, encouraging him the Your Failure is not Final.

There are three things that we can understand from Jesus’ lesson here that our Failure is not Final.

I. Plan of Your Foe (v. 31)

A. The Sifting Process

We, first, must recognize the Plan of our Foe. Look at what the Lord informs Peter. He says “Simon, Simon! Behold! Satan has requested to sift you as wheat.” I had to study and understand exactly what this sifting process is. What happened is, after the wheat had fallen, the gatherers would gather together everything that had fallen and without picking out what was good and bad. The sifting process was to separate the genuine wheat from other items that had gotten mixed in with it, separating what was the “real wheat” from the “chaff.” The “chaff” was what had been picked up along the way.

In the sifting process, Satan has requested to separate, in you, that which is real from the stuff that you’ve picked up along the way. Is it real, or did you pick it up along the way? Is your Christianity genuine to you, or something that you’ve picked up after so many years of church attendance? Satan’s desire is that when you fail, you realize that you’re not as holy and sanctified as you thought you were, and you give up. What happens when you fail, is that you’ll be faced with the stark reality that what you thought was genuine all these years may not have been.

B. Identity

One Major way that the enemy tries to do this is in our identity. Here in the passage, we find Jesus preparing Peter for this. Jesus calls out “Simon, Simon!” I puzzled myself about this for a long time, because Jesus named him Peter. Why call him Simon after you changed his name to Peter (rock)? This would be so much easier to preach if you would have just called him Simon! Jesus is preparing Peter for the Plan of his Foe to sift him and make him think that his identity had changed because of his failure. If you flip through, you’ll notice that the Lord calls him Simon often throughout the gospels. Every time Christ calls him Simon, he's referring to his former self-allegiance. So notice, He is referring to his self-allegiance, and does so in an exclamatory manner. Jesus yells, “Simon, Simon!” as if to get his attention. What God is saying is “Hey! I NEED YOUR ATTENTION IN YOUR FAILURE.” You see, when we fail we have a tendency to wallow in our failure. We have a tendency to feel sorry for ourselves and lose focus. We also tend to think less of ourselves than necessary and what God is saying is “Hey! I NEED YOUR ATTENTION IN YOUR FAILURE.” We tend to stop praying, stop trusting Him, stop reading our Word in our failure and what God is saying is “Hey! I NEED YOUR ATTENTION IN YOUR FAILURE.” Your identity has not changed because of your failure. God thinks the same thing about you now as He did before your failure.

Illustration: Now, I know it’s hard for you all to believe, but I got in my fair share of trouble while growing up. I remember one time, I don’t remember what I did, but I remember being in trouble and walking up to my father and sitting down next to him. Dad asked, what are you doing sitting up under me? So I asked my dad “do you hate me?” Then dad had to explain to me that he didn’t hate me, but he was disappointed. I had to learn that my failure didn’t affect my identity. As long as his blood was running through my veins, we would always be my father and always love me. It’s the same with God. As long as His blood is running through your veins, you can rest assured that your identity has not changed, no matter how you’ve failed.

II. Persistence of Your Faith

First we must understand the Plan of our Foe, but we must also understand the Persistence of our Faith. Notice what Jesus says. He says “But I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail.” It strikes me that Jesus didn’t pray that the sifting process wouldn’t take place, but that Peter’s faith would not fail. God has not refuted Satan’s desire to separate that which is genuine from that which has been picked up along the way, but Satan’s deeper desire is that this causes your faith to fail.

And look at Peter, making empty promises… trusting in himself. Jesus had to explain to him that before tomorrow, you will fail. Jesus is saying that you will fail… that’s a given because you’re wrapped in flesh. What He’s concerned with is that your faith does not fail. It’s your faith that got you where you are today. What does the Ephesians 2:18 say? “For we have been saved is by grace THROUGH FAITH!” Your works (good or bad, success or failure), do not determine who you are, your faith does. Christ’s prayer is that your faith does not fail even when you do.

Illustration: I love watching the Olympic Games because it is a showcase of the best athletes in the world. Growing up I always wanted to be one of the best athletes in the world, now I reserve myself to watching them. In these past summer Olympics, I remember watching the gymnastics competition and there was an American gymnast by the name of Paul Hamm who was competing in the final gymnastics competition where the gymnasts go to all the different stations. There came a point in the competition where Paul Hamm fell during his routine. This caused Paul Hamm to drop from 4th place all the way to dead last. As did the announcers and probably the entire world, I thought it was over for Paul Hamm. What did Paul Hamm do? He got up, brushed himself off and had for the last 5 competitions Paul scored as close to perfect as you can get and ended up winning the gold medal because his faith did not fail. Paul fell, but his faith did not. He didn’t wallow in his dirt; he didn’t give up because of his failure; He didn’t think what everyone in the stadium and everyone watching on TV thought. He made the decision that his faith would not fail although he did.

III. Positives of Your Failure

You must understand the Plan of Your Foe, you must understand the Persistence of Your Faith, but you must also understand the Positives of Your Failure. Yes, there are positives.

A. Surety of Restoration

The first positive of your failure is the Surety of Restoration. Look at what Jesus says, “And when you have been restored.” Jesus says it as if it is definitely going to happen, as if there were no doubt in His mind. Although you failed, God still loves you, God still has a plan for your life, and your restoration is sure.

Illustration: Besides my Pastor, one of my favorite preachers is Jeffrey Johnson. Pastor Johnson tells the story of an opportunity he had to visit Florida, and it just so happens that he was visiting right after a hurricane had come through. As he was riding around Florida with someone who is actually from Florida and noticing all the damage that the hurricane did, Pastor Johnson made the comment that it was a shame that all those trees are destroyed. The person from Florida asked what he was talking about. Pastor Johnson pointed to the palm trees which had bent over to the ground because of the hurricane. The person from Florida said “you don’t know much about palm trees do you?” The trees a blown over and fallen, but when the sun comes back out the trees will get in line with the rays of the sun and they will rise back up. Yes, you may fall, but if you would just get in line with the Son, your restoration is sure.

B. Strengthening of the Body

Not only is there a Surety of Restoration, but there is also a Strengthening of the Body. Look what Jesus tells Peter to do. He says, “When you have been restored, strengthen your brothers.” In order to understand this part, you must understand what Jesus says in verse 31 where He says “Satan has requested to shift you as wheat.” I lived in North Carolina for 4 years and in Texas for the past two. One thing about living in the country that I love is learning new words… like “ya’ll.” It’s not good English, but it’s good Greek because in the original language that is a 2nd person plural. In English, the 2nd person singular and the 2nd person plural are the same word, “you.” But what is going on here, in the original language, Jesus uses the 2nd person plural. So in actuality, what He’s saying is “Satan has requested to sift ya’ll as wheat.” Satan doesn’t just have a plan for Peter, but he has a plan for Peter and everyone around him. This is why Jesus says when you’ve been restored, strengthen your brothers, because Satan has requested to sift ya’ll.

Now, just like Satan’s desire isn’t just for you… God’s desire isn’t just for you. God’s desire is for the entire body. Contrary to popular prosperity opinion, God did not save you just for you. God did not bring you to where you are just for you. God did not bless you financially just so you can have a nice house and 20 inch rims on your Saturn. God has blessed you for the body! We get caught up in this whole “my religion is my business” thing. That’s not Biblical. Once you’ve been restored, strengthen your brothers!

Illus: I have a little brother now, he’s 2 years old. Now, like I told you I got into my fair share of trouble coming up. Therefore I know exactly what makes dad mad, what not to do around dad and how dad will react to certain things. Now, I have a responsibility to my brother that he doesn’t get into trouble doing the same stupid things that I did. I am a horrible brother if Dillon gets into trouble doing the same stuff that I did.

The problem is you’re going around trying to keep your failure covered, pretending that you’ve got it together. Oh Please! There are people coming behind you falling in the same stuff you fell in. WHEN YOU’VE BEEN RESTORED STRENGTHEN YOUR BROTHERS!

That’s why we have so many men falling in infidelity, pornography and homosexuality, because there aren’t enough men who will stand up and say “I did it, I fell, I failed, I’ve been restored, you can be restored too!” WHEN YOU’VE BEEN RESTORED STRENGTHEN YOUR BROTHERS!

That’s why so many women are aborting babies and giving up on life, because there aren’t enough women who will stand up and say “I did it, I fell, I failed, I’ve been restored, you can be restored too!” WHEN YOU’VE BEEN RESTORED STRENGTHEN YOUR BROTHERS!

That’s why so many people are falling into drugs and alcohol, because there aren’t enough people who will stand up and say “I did it, I fell, I failed, I’ve been restored, you can be restored too!” WHEN YOU’VE BEEN RESTORED STRENGTHEN YOUR BROTHERS!

That’s why so many people are contemplating suicide, giving up on their marriages, giving up on their children, because there aren’t enough people who will stand up and say “I did it, I fell, I failed, I’ve been restored, you can be restored too!” WHEN YOU’VE BEEN RESTORED STRENGTHEN YOUR BROTHERS!

That’s why the local church exists... not so you can say that you’re doing something, but so that you can build relationships with other saints and encourage each other. WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN RESTORED STRENGHTEN YOUR BROTHERS!

Your Failure is not Final.