Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Faith That Works Series-Faith in the Face of Failure


Gtcotr/ws1/31/18

James 2:17  Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

This will be our first lesson in a six-week series entitled “Faith That Works”. Each Wednesday evening we will take the Word of God and answer the two questions:
1.  What should I believe …
2.  What should I do …
… to have faith that works when faced with some very specific problems in life.

The topics will include: Faith that works in the face of:
·        Unanswered Prayer
·        Love
·        Abuse
·        Divorce
·        Fear

This evening we begin our series with:

Faith That Works in the Face of Failure

We don’t have to venture far into the Bible to find examples of people who experienced failure. It begins with Adam and Eve, then Cain, Canaan, Abraham, Sarah, Rebecca, Jacob, Judah, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, Samson, Jonah, the 12 Disciples, Paul, Mark, the young rich ruler and so many others. Some recovered, and some didn’t. Some went on to see their greatest day and others allowed their failures to spell their final defeat.

By the way, Failure does not have to spell defeat … It’s what we do in the face of failure that determines the outcome.

In order to fully recover from failures in life we need to know two things:
1.   What should I believe in the middle of my moment … and …
2.   What should I do … What can I do to recover from failure?

Tonight we begin a brief survey of the life of King David. David represents a type of Christ in the Bible. The scriptures tell us that David was a man after God’s own heart. This assures us that the problems David faced were not heart problems, but they were problems nonetheless.

Without respect as to what we may be encountering in life at any moment, chances are we can find a parallel account somewhere in the life of David. In some moments David’s decisions teach us what we should do and in others it he shows us what we should not do. Both of these are valid lessons from the Lord. After all, David was just a man, but he was a man after God’s own heart, and he was chosen at an early age to fulfill the plan and purpose of God. Through it all, God never gave up on David and David never gave up on God.

(Note: Bring to bear the events leading up to David’s failure: 1050BC David’s calling; success; popularity; and his fall from Saul’s grace)

1 Samuel 24
1 ¶  Now it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, “Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.”
2  Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats.
3  So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to attend to his needs. (David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.)
4  Then the men of David said to him, “This is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.’ ” And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
5  Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe.
6  And he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.”
7  So David restrained his servants with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way.
8  David also arose afterward, went out of the cave, and called out to Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed down.
9 ¶  And David said to Saul: “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Indeed David seeks your harm’?
10  “Look, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’S anointed.’
11  “Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you hunt my life to take it.
12  “Let the LORD judge between you and me, and let the LORD avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you.”

·        David was facing serious problems … problems which he did not cause … but they were his problems nonetheless. Saul was jealous …
·        Others were aware of David’s situation with King Saul and David had his supporters.  
·        Everyone takes a side when sides demand to be taken …
·        Trouble polarizes people … it even divides friends, families, nations and the Church.
·        God forbid that our personal problems should bring division …
·        The Bible says God hates those who sow discord and those who cause division among the brethren. (Proverbs 6:19)
·        In David’s case, he had people who loved and cared for him, but they were not helping matters … they imagined themselves right when they counseled David to rise up against King Saul.
·        David, like most people in the middle of a problem, needed no encouragement to be upset, take matters into his own hand, defend himself and go off in the wrong direction.
·        Good people moved by a sad situation can help to make it worse …
·        Sometimes the voice we hear sounds like the voice of God …
·        The devil will at times even use scriptures to deceive us … (Luke 4)
·        The devil will at times use circumstances to deceive us … (Num 22)
·        The devil will at times use supporters to deceive us … (Acts 12:22)
·        Even angels must be tested by the Word - (Galatians 1:8; 1John 4:1)
·        Without regard as to what we think we hear or who says it, We cannot go outside of the Word of God to accomplish the will of God.
·        Violating the Word of God signals a failure on our part …
·        David failed … he failed himself, he failed God and he failed others …

David recovered from this failure both in the eyes of God and in the eyes of man. David recovered because of what David believed and what he did.

1.   David believed that God was right above all else … above hardship, disappointment and failure and, that God would take care of it.
a.   I can’t tell you the number of times I have heard God say, give it to Me … I’ll take care of it.
b.   When we first recognize that what we said or what we did does not line up with the Word, the Will or the Way of God, we need to give it to God. David believed God would handle it.
c.   No matter how bad things are right now … Believe me, you can make it worse. Just give it to God and take your hands off.
2.   Next, David faced up to the fact that he had failed and without excuse he owned his part in the failure and repented.
a.   Change is the litmus test of repentance.
b.   Nothing changes until something changes. Change your mind.
c.   A change in David’s mind produced a change in David’s life. It was not a heart problem, it was a head problem. David had let his situation, thoughts, feelings and friends guide him.

The end of the story is that God did take care of everything in God’s own time. It didn’t turn out like David hoped but the outcome belonged to God.

1 Peter 5 NKJV
8 ¶  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
9  Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

Don’t allow the devil to convince you that God cannot handle your future or your failure or that He has forsaken you or left you because of a failure. God loves you and He has a wonderful plan for your life.


If you have faced failure God wants to help. Repent for your part, turn it over to God and decide you’ll never do that again. You will recover …