Grace And Our Past Failures - Part 1

Welcome to the intact podcast return for Tuesday, April 26 if you like the past hunting you see how God's grace can overcome continuing him of failure is not someone who fails but someone who fails and gives up in all of our lives, their past sins things for which we are ashamed of feel so unworthy to come to God and ask him to forgive us and yet he tells us very clearly in his word what his response throughout past failures as shame our sins, our guilt that many people who want to be delivered. Many people who want to get out of the bondage that they feel so desperately about but somehow they don't how to get out. Not quite sure how God will respond if they come to him again and say father is my past would you forgive me. Would you give me a new beginning.

Do not quite sure. The title of this message is grace, and our past failures and I want you turn if you will to Luke chapter 15 and on this occasion were not gonna read all of this because it's in verses 11 through 32 that too many of them to read but you know the story of the prodigal son, here is the most beautiful description of God's work of grace in the life of a young man, which is typical really of the life of all of us and sometimes we asked the question what was that prodigal son story so famous and why is it the one that people love so much. I'll tell you why, because all of us will find ourselves in that story somewhere on the other. Maybe not to the same degree, but somewhere of the other will find me just give you a brief idea of what's happening. Remember that these two sons, the younger of them said to his father.

Father, I will what's coming to me and I believing and so he took his a part of the inheritance he left the Bible says he went into a distant country and he squandered it. He ended up in a hog pin and a point of real true desperation in his life and it is out of this story that God displays and describes Ross his own character himself as in view of the passages in all the Bible only to say first of all, at this point that all of the hold hands and not own farms there in big cities hold penis ring anybody is trapped. Anyone is imprisoned by anyone is addicted to anything and they can escape they can't get out. There is no freedom there.

An absolute bondage is those positions in those conditions in life where people feel like that coming to the end and there's no way out and they do not know what to do all. For example, the prodigal's not in hold pins. Some of them are sitting in church on Sunday morning. They live in the hold pin six days a week and on Sunday they dress up and come the church, hoping they'll be able to silence or at least quiet and or definite and aching conscience that keeps knowing all the time all the particles are not in the hold pins in the world.

Some of them are sitting in church on Sunday morning. In this passage of Scripture. What I want you to see is this I want you to see how low down a person can become in their life and what is God's response when they choose to come back to him what I want you to see today in this passage is this, that he doesn't making a difference which hold pin urine. It doesn't make any difference how deep in sin, you are it doesn't make a difference. What's going on in your life. God tells us in his word that for our past sins. His response is the response of grace, so most of again in this 15th chapter and simply say first of all that God will allow his children to fail in their Christian life. God will allow you and me who been saved by his grace know that was saved. He will allow laws to make choices in life will bring about failure in our Christian experience. I didn't say that God would cause it but here's what will happen God knowing the future and knowing the pain will suffer.

Knowing the wrongs will commit even though he foresees our pain foresees the mistake foresees the consequences God will allow laws if we so choose to walk away from him in our spiritual life. You know, people have been saving to the rose. No doubt in your mind about it and other used to go to church, that in the front row. The second row down front had the Bible took notes and for some reason or the other. After a while they stopped coming to church and then they start reading the Bible. Then they stop praying and you seldom ever see them again and once in a while if you run into them they say well you know I just got so busy and and so-called all they may say we do not know much have time for that now and yeah I used to be committed. But somehow I know what happen. I'm just here on disorder hanging in here where I am and they find themselves in a hold pin to the tragedy is many people are wallowing in the hold pin and don't even know they're there. They think they're still where they used to be, but they're not. They drifted and so God even though he knows what's going to happen if we make the choice. If we choose to live independently of God in our lifestyle. God will allow. Now what I want you to see is this, there is a seven step spiral downward. When a person chooses to live independently of God. Independence from God is the basis of all sin.

It doesn't make a difference.

It is something simple or something complex at any moment I choose to do it my way and ignore God or deliberately willfully walk away from what I know is his will. I choose at that moment to take the first step down one in the spiral of sin which is going to lead to defeat and out of desperation someone you jot down these seven steps because all of us either now or at some point in our life have been somewhere in the spiral that you can step out anytime you choose to step out of your wise and of the realized that God is able to deliver you at any point, but somewhere in these seven steps down the spiral. Most people don't find themselves in this if you want those persons and you know that you say, but you are living in sin, know that you are you've explained it away, you rationalize that you said yes my parents never taught me, but I came a Christian home or you didn't come from a Christian home, but you know that you got say no doubt your mind about what you say as you say wandered away from God. You have sought of the show we say slipped away. The real truth is backslidden is about to work. That is, you have walked away from God deliberately for some reason or the other, something you wanted you chose to act independently of God. The first step is desire.

All sin begins with that. That is all deliberate sin begins with this are this young man. The Bible says in verse 12, the young of these two sons said to his father. Father give me the share of the estate that falls to me and he divided his wealth between the he desired to live his own life independent of his family. He did ask his father for wisdom or guidance or direction.

He just chose to walk away from the family whenever you and I choose to live in sin disobey God. We first of all desire something that allures gauze challenges as wounds away from our intimate relationship with God the father. The second word I want you jot down his decision.

He not only designed but he made a decision. He went to his father and he said I want my part and I am leaving he made a decision to leave the Scripture says that he chose to put all of his things together and once he had them together.

The Bible says that he chose to leave now if you have been a smart boy. He does that bother what you think is the wisest thing to do what he had a bizarre and that desire brought him to decision his decision was the layout away from the phone.

Obviously, because in his mind he had to make a decision that was going to bring about some dissension probably a misunderstanding and so he made this decision.

Third Ward's departure. He left and what I want you to see about the war departures this when he left he made sure he put enough distance between him and his father to be able to do what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it.

How he wanted to do it, with whom he wanted to do it, and for the reasons he wanted Newark to be nobody around the time the different is the all sin is the desire to act independently of God, our loving father knows what's best for us and a loving father is a God of wisdom I got of righteousness in a God who seeks our best always, when we choose to disobey him. We say we are smarter than he is. We want this, even though we know deep down inside, the consequences will be painful, so he departed, and it's interesting when the Bible says he went into a distant land or is the King James says into a far country. Now where in the world is a far country apart country is any place you and I choose to live outside the will of God. Any place you and I choose to live outside the will of God is of our country, which means not only in a small village but right here in this church building are in your church where you go to church week after week you can live in a far country, and still be in a church out is anywhere we choose to live outside the will of God. So the third where there is his departure. The pool of what I want you to notice here is the word deception because this is always what happens. You see, the reason he chose to walk away. He was the sea. The very idea that he'd be better off with his little bit of knowledge making it on his own and that very, very difficult country not seeking his father's wise counsel of years and years and years.

What happened Satan whispered in his ear look, you don't need them, you can do it without them, you can make it on your own. Besides, look at all the wonderful, exciting, thrilling things in life that you're missing living out here all this old plantation.

You need to get in a big city man. You need to find out what life is all about. You need to try out some things you need to test out your own wings humming grow up around the world to your think make it on your own. Remember this, Satan always tells us what we going to get, but he never tells us what we going to miss and the truth is, he never tells us all we going to get. He just tells is the part that appeals throttled fleshly desires and so the Scripture says that he departed, he departed because he had been deceived by his feelings by his attitude been deceived by Satan. Everybody living in a far country is living in deceit living in deception listening to the devil's law. It's going to work. You don't need God listed just because your parents of the church doesn't mean you have to go to church this because your grandparents when the church does means necessary view that you don't need all that stuff all these preachers. This Bible beat all this help find damnation and all these Christians going to church on Wednesday night.

Sunday morning sunlight menu don't need a lot of stuff you don't even have time for that man get the world and live and see what life is all about. That is the deception of the devil, but it leads to not step number five and that's that this defeat what you notice what happened. This young man. The Bible says that first of all, he suffered defeat Marley and the Scripture says that he verse 14 that he spent everything he went into a far country distant compass squandered his estate would lose living now lose living over in verse 30 when the oldest son and his father in the conversation the children, the oldest son said about the youngest son and he may have known the truth about and they probably knew each other pretty well.

He said to him, he said this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots, you kill the fatted calf for him. So first of all, he suffered defeat Marley.

The second way he experienced defeat was financial because the Bible says he lost everything he had. He squandered it. He wasted he he scattered the third thing he suffered defeat in was this, he suffered defeat in his own personhood because what happened was when he ended up in the hog pen. He lost a sense of self-respect. His sense of self-esteem. Here he was having been the finest of robes defined as the shoes, the finest of everything defined as the food in that whole pan he lost it all.

He squandered not only his robe but his own personhood he lost his own sense of potential and sense of self-respect and self-esteem before thing he suffered defeat in was in his relationships that easily separate himself from his family.

Then he set himself up over whatever friends he had usually if you've got a lot and you living in sin when your lot gives out your friends get gone. That's exactly what happened to him because the Scripture says he began to be in need and no one would give him anything to eat.

Not one single person. So think about own the spiral of defeat and that's what it is a spiral downward.

Not only is there defeat, but there's defeat in many aspects of a person's life defeat in the armoire life defeat in the financial life defeat in the relational life and defeat in their own sense of personhood. Then the next morning when you jot down this despair because that is exactly what happened to.

He began to despair of life. Here he was in a hog pin slopping hogs, and the Bible says that no one would give them anything.

He lost all of his money.

He lost his sense of self-respect is decency. He lost it all and is he looked around he had nothing. He was in absolute despair and the Bible says a famine came in the land… If you living in sin and you have chosen to live disobedient before God and you just hang in there without sin you can remember this, there will be a famine in your path sooner or later. What kind I don't know but it is coming.

Yes it's amazing when you choose to deliberately walk away from God disobey him and live in sin and know that you're there, my friend, God begins to put every force of life against you, not because he is against you. But in order to bring you from despair down to the next step in the next step is desperation because desperation is the step before there is deliverance. Desperation is the step before there is deliverance or absolute destruction. This young man reached the point of desperation and what was that desperation look at this.

The Scripture says in verse 14 when he had spent everything a severe famine occurred in the country and he began to be in the need of everything. He went and to attached himself to one of the citizens of that country and he sent him into his fields to feed swine and he was longing to fill his stomach with a pause. The Swan were eating, no one was giving him anything. So look at his point of desperation. Now Jesus described this in a way that would put this man in the most desperate position that he could be in in the eyes of these religious, Pharisees and Sadducees who were so hypocritical to his word. Jesus that he said this young Jewish boy got so desperate that he went and hired himself to a Gentile hog farm because no Jew would've been a whole, said to be a Gentile.

This Jewish boy hired himself out to a Gentile hog farm and his responsibility as a hired hand of this Gentile hog farm was set. The hogs that is an error date slow the pace now how would you ever been to a farm and see had seen him slot parts. I can remember the first time I read this passage of Scripture that this suddenly it came a lot a lot to me because I grew up in Virginia and my hometown where I lived. Just always a mild throughout the country to where the farms were and so some of my relatives had a farm not going to spend a week with them and I remember what I used to do I get up in the morning and I just go around and watch them do whatever they did and I did that for seven days. That was my vacation. Just following around earning them on the late-night meds that was my vacation in heaven money had to do whatever you could do so was different in the way and so I remember feeding chickens and watching the milk the cows and all these things within. I can remember slopping those hogs listen, you know what they would do they take all of the food that been leftover during the day.

Do they fit big big meals three times they flees from.

They take all this in mixed Civil War and you say slop I mean old dirty biscuits and mashed up Stefan Eaton fat vegetables and all those they just sloppy stop I can remember 5 gallon can take a 5 gallon can hear. They came dump it into the trawl and sometimes two or three of here come those hogs are mainly just come slop into the mud stick.

Darrell knows that and just slop it up on me just all the noise it going on. I think what a horrible mess left me almost make me sick on my stomach just thinking about in the course they gave rule: so far, there was one. But the important thing was watching him slot those whole you know it was horrible to me but it was wonderful to the hog maybe stick his nose then and that it was it was all gone.

I mean, they slept until it was all gone.

You know those little hall just as comfortable as they could be, they just wallow around them just lay around the mud, but here they come in EEE eight. If a favor if they were coming if they were coming of the slop. I mean everybody got excited in the hog pin but you know what if you were to put a gentle little white clean lamb that home. He'd be very uncomfortable. The master question. Have you walked away from God and you living in sin and what you feasting on isn't kitchen slop, but it's a whole lot more disastrous to you that it could be alcohol, drugs you bought off the street of drugs you bought all the over-the-counter or some kind of sin going on in your life that you know is absolutely violation of the word of God that my friend is slopping with the hogs. I do what you're going through, where you are but I want to give this our father is the father of grace and love and forgiveness and kindness toward his children. You can step out of that hole pin and turn your failure into a testimony of the grace of God and how do you step out you make a decision you jump the fence that is you make a decision you just turn to the father and say father I've had enough this hog pen living coming home.

Thank you for listening to grace in our past failures also like to invite you to join in celebrating 45 years that God's faithfulness is not my intent to start a lightning flash 45 years to the presentation of ministries Atlanta, Georgia