Moving Beyond our Failures
Breaking the Foolish Cycles of
Life
Gtcotr/ss010415
Key Scripture: Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a
fool repeats his folly.
Matthew 3 NKJV
1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of
Judea,
2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand!"
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Mark 6:12 So they (the disciples) went out and preached that people
should repent.
John
the Baptist preached repentance; Jesus preached repentance; and
Jesus
sent His disciples to preach repentance …
We
can easily conclude from these, and from the more than 100 verses in the Bible
which directly mention repentance, that repentance is a timeless foundational
doctrine of the Gospel of Christ. Before the Law came through Moses people did
not always know what God wanted them to do.
Acts 17:30 "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but
now commands all men everywhere to repent.”
Acts 3:19 "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins
may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of
the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading
to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
What
is repentance? A turnaround … In the sense of the scriptures, to repent means
to turn from your ways and turn from the ways of this world and to turn from
your sin and turn towards God. It means to change!
Nothing
changes unless something changes.
This
morning we will use King David as our example of how to repent and recover from
sin and move beyond our failures. The passage in Psalms 51 will show us how to
break those foolish cycles of life.
How
did David break free? He repented! What did that look like?
First
David acknowledged his sin before God
·
Psalms 51:3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is
always before me.
·
Turn
to God with your sin
·
Not
only did David turn to God and acknowledge his sin but …
Next
David confessed his sin
·
Psalms 51:4 Against You, You
only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight …
·
A
confession is an offering of our sins to God
·
David
said, “forgive me”, not “excuse me” …
·
1
John 1:9 encourages us to confess our sin
Then
David forsook his sin
·
Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a
steadfast spirit within me.
·
We
must not only offer our sins to God but also offer ourselves as well.
·
God
not only forgives but He will also cleanse our hearts and minds.
·
Proverbs
28:13 says confess and forsake and mercy will follow
Finally
David shared his victory over sin as a testimony
to help others
·
Psalms 51:13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And
sinners shall be converted to You.
·
It
is important that our tests become testimonies and that we be willing to help
others along the way.
·
The
sharing of our testimony keeps us mindful of the grace, mercy, and forgiveness
of God. This helps us stay strong so as not to easily or mindlessly repeat that
sin.
·
If
we continue to repeat our folly we will be no different than a dog who returns
to his own vomit.
Psalms 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A
broken and a contrite heart — These, O God, You will not despise.
David
made certain that the last time was the last time.
This
time is not the last time. The last time was the last time, this time is the
next time after the last time and if you imagine you can do it just one more
time and this time will be the last time, there will never be a last time and
you can rest assured there will always be a next time.
If the last time was not the last time there will never be a last
time.
If
just one more time is going to be the last time then there will always be a
next time. Just one more time is not going to fix it. Repent today!
Romans 6:11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed
to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What
can we do to help others break free from those same foolish cycles?
2 Timothy 2
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God
peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that
they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken
captive by him at his will.
·
Become an encouragement to others with a meek
and humble spirit.
·
One of the first signposts on the road to
defeat reads, “It cannot happen to me.” – Be humble, be truthful, and be
willing to change.
Let the last time be the last time ~ 1 Peter
4:3ff We have spent enough of our past life doing the things we should not do …
it’s time to get serious!
