Lyrical, joyous, and free.
All the way to the sun and sky.
All the way to the moon and Mary.
All the way to heaven and to Jesus.
Make sure you're sleeping with your all-regents.
All the way to heaven and to Jesus.
All the way.
No one better stops you from your Virgin.
Tell it to Jesus.
Where he sings, let him be.
Let him be.
We, he, the Lord, have enough to sorrow.
Tell the Lord of my soul.
For he lives in Jesus.
For Christ, coming, be the voice.
Tell it to Jesus.
Let him be.
Write these two symbols, song number 96.
We, we, pastures, so rich and so...
The valley begins.
Something, the water, something beautiful.
In the morning, something breaks our road.
I see something bright.
Something, the water, something bright.
And it's a future like the one.
It's a future like the one.
And in the water, something beautiful.
And in the water, something breaks our road.
God gives the song away from the water away from the...
God gives the future from the home.
We, we, pastures, so rich and so...
The valley begins.
Something, the water, something bright.
Something, the water, something beautiful.
And it's a future like the one.
Something, the water, something bright.
Oh, God gives the song in the night season.
All right, well, good evening, everybody.
It's great to see everybody back out for the evening service here at Straight Paths Baptist Church.
If you'd like a bulletin, you can go ahead and slip up your hand, and one will be brought to you.
As always, on the back, we have our service times every Sunday at 10.30 a.m., again at 5.30 p.m.
And then this Thursday, we'll be back at 7 for our study through the book of Genesis in chapter 42.
We have the church-wide soul winning below that, as well as the regional soul winning,
salvation, baptisms for both the month and year, the attendance total, about Thanksgiving.
If you'd like to join us here at the building, we'll have dates, or times, rather, and other details.
We're planning on doing a potluck dinner here at the church building,
and that's just to those that would like to, of course, take advantage of that.
We will, as usual, be having our normally scheduled service on Thursday at 7 o'clock,
so you can always join us for that.
And that's really it for announcements.
We'll just quickly count up the soul winning going back to Friday the 1st,
if there's anything from Friday the 1st, or this Saturday the 2nd, outside of the group.
And then for the group today that went out, 5 total. Praise the Lord.
Alright, we'll keep up the great work, soul winning,
and we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we get into the preaching this evening.
If you could please turn your hymnals to song number 245.
We'll be singing a song, number 245.
Even though the count was settled, we can have a song, number 245.
I really want us to notice the first verse now.
There was a time on earth, but in the...
My name was at the top, and many things belong.
Went into the keeper and settled it long ago.
Such a beautiful truth there, lifted up to the Lord on the first.
There was a time on earth, but in the good new land.
It only counteth free, for sin did...
...be too long, a minute too deep.
Instead of long ago, long ago, long ago.
Yes, the only count was settled, long ago.
And the record's clear today, for he washed his sins away.
When the only count was settled...
...all the count was lost, ignoring everything.
Your eyes always...
...salt such pain and pain.
Yes, in the time we settle, I settle alone.
And the record's clear today, for he washed my sins away.
When the only count was settled, long ago.
In the happy home, my Savior's home above.
A secret that she stole me, and praised him for his love.
I'll not forget that book, but pay just by the sin.
Because I came to settle, and settle alone.
Long ago, long ago, long ago, he settled alone.
Yes, the only count was settled, long ago.
I will do, and the record's clear today, for he washed my sins away.
When the only count was settled, long ago.
All the count was settled, stand and trust the Lord.
Be friends of all your spirit, for those he had to find.
For years and months have been, and many years she lived.
A hundred years ago, a very happy day.
We settled together, long ago, long ago.
Yes, the only count was settled, long ago.
And the record's clear today, for he washed my sins away.
When the only count was settled, long ago.
At this time, the offering play will go around, and as the offering play goes around,
follow along with Brother Fabian, as he reads to us from Galatians 5.
Again, that's Galatians, chapter number 5.
Galatians 5, beginning at verse 1.
Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty with which Christ had made us free.
And be not a terrible game with a yoke of bondage.
Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised,
Christ shall profit you nothing.
For I testify again to every man that is circumcised,
that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
Christ has become of known effect on you,
whosoever you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace.
For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness, like faith.
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith which worketh by love.
Ye did run wild, who did hinder you, that ye should not obey the truth.
This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.
A little leaven leaveneth the whole lung.
I have confidence in you through the Lord,
that ye would be none otherwise minded,
but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment whosoever he be.
And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision,
why do I yet suffer persecution?
Then is the offense of the cross ceased.
I would that they were even cut off from which trouble you.
For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty,
only use not liberty for occasion to the flesh,
but by love serve one another.
For all the law is fulfilling one word, even in this.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
But if ye bite and devour one another,
take ye that ye be not consumed one of another.
This I say then, walk in the Spirit,
and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh,
and these are contrary to one to another,
so that ye cannot do the things which ye would.
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these,
adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, immolations,
wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envies, murders,
drunkenness, rebalance of such life,
of the which I taught you before,
as I have also told you in time past,
that they which do such things
shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
Against such there is no law,
and they that are Christ have crucified the flesh
with affections and lusts.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Let us not be desirous of vainglory,
provoking one another, envy one another.
Brother Adam, can you pray for us?
Well, Heavenly Father, just thank you for your goodness
and mercy, Lord God.
Thank you for all the good in our lives.
Lord God, we thank you for your knowledge tonight.
We're so thankful for our church, Lord God.
We thank you for our leadership.
And as we just fill past with your Holy Spirit,
and give us wisdom and understanding in your word, Lord.
Thank you in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
Amen.
So we're back in Galatians chapter 5 a little bit.
If you want to go back to Mark 14,
I'm going to wrap up Mark 14.
I know it's a long chapter and there's a lot in there.
But really, I just want to focus on one thing that's pretty common,
probably everybody's familiar with.
And that's with Peter, with his denial with Christ
after he's been arrested, and of course,
all the events that are kind of taking place there in the garden.
Of course, we covered this morning the events leading up to this
with the Last Supper and Christ giving them the cup and the bread
and telling them to eat and drink thereof.
And it says there in verse 26 that after that,
they had sung in him and went into the Mount of Olives.
Now, that right there is almost a sermon in and of itself,
the fact that Christ, who obviously understands everything
that is about to befall him, who as we'll see here in a minute
has great heaviness in his spirit
and is going through a great trial of affliction,
takes the time to sing in him.
And there's an encouragement in that.
When we're going through hard times and difficulties,
we should encourage ourselves through songs,
through hymns, through spiritual songs.
Music is such an important part of our lives
and not just when we're happy.
Often, if you look at the psalm book,
which is basically the hymnal for Old Testament Israel,
a lot of those hymns are pretty somber.
There's a lot of very serious, sober, somber hymns in there.
So music can help lift up our spirits even when we're down.
If you think about the story of King Saul
when an evil spirit had gone to him from the Lord
and he was very manic and going through these different difficulties,
David was brought and played upon the harp
and that kind of drove that away and lifted up his spirit.
That's a whole other sermon I'm tempted to preach,
but really there's a lot here in this chapter
and I just want to focus on really an encouraging aspect of Peter's denial.
This is such a great truth, and the first time I heard this,
preached and understood this, it was such an encouragement to me.
And I know it's one I've covered before,
but I think it's worth repeating again
because it's something that we often have to be reminded of.
So they go out in the garden, they're singing a hymn on the way,
and it says in verse 27,
And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night,
for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.
But after I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.
Now Jesus has just made a blanket statement.
He's made a statement of fact.
All of you shall be offended of me because of me this night.
Every last one of you disciples that are with me, you twelve, eleven rather,
are going to be offended by me this night.
You're going to be scattered.
You're going to forsake me, basically is what he's saying.
And we see next that Peter actually argues with him.
And we can sit here and wonder where this is coming from.
What are Peter's motives for him saying what he says next?
It says in verse 29,
Although all should be offended, yet will not I.
So he's saying, you know, it doesn't surprise me about these other guys, Lord,
and I could see that happening to them,
and although all they might be offended, not me.
And I believe he was sincere when he meant it,
but I believe perhaps it's hard to really judge people like this in hindsight,
but you wonder if it's not coming from a place of pride,
where he's saying, you know, I'm more spiritual than the rest of these guys.
You know, I'm more faithful. I'm not going to forsake you.
And we'll see here, if we already know the story,
that in fact he does deny him, just like Jesus said he would,
that he denies him three times.
And what we should take from that is that, as the scripture says,
Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall,
and not boast ourselves of ourselves, and not lift ourselves up.
If we exalt ourselves, we shall be humbled.
And we'll see here that Peter was very seriously humbled as a result.
And in fact, it affected his service for God.
He, in fact, we'll see here in a minute,
quits the ministry as a result of these events that are about to play out.
But notice, before his denial, he's lifting himself up.
The others also denied Christ. Well, not denied Christ, but were scattered, rather.
They were offended and forsook him, just like Jesus said.
But you don't see any of the other ones necessarily denying him,
right? Peter's the only one that is vocalizing his denial of Christ,
who's saying, I know not the man,
who is vehemently denying that he even knows Christ,
after he vehemently is saying that he would not deny Christ.
He says, Although all shall be offended, yet not I.
And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto you,
This day, even in this night, before the crock crow twice,
thou shalt deny me thrice.
He's saying you're going to deny me three times before the night is even over,
before the sun is even risen, before the crock crow twice,
thou shalt deny me thrice.
Now, that's twice that Jesus has said, No, you are going to deny me.
You are all going to be offended.
Peter says, I will not deny you, even though all others will.
And he says, Actually, Peter, you're going to deny me three times.
Verse 31, you know, that might have put us on our heels.
That would make most people step back and think, Well, wait a minute.
This is the Lord speaking.
And we would never want that to be said of us.
But the truth is, is that, you know, that that's even,
it's in its potential that any of us can end up denying Christ.
And we don't want to look down on Peter.
We don't want to say, you know, if I had been there that night,
you know, I would have said it and meant it, Peter.
We don't know that.
In all likelihood, we wouldn't.
But he spake them more vehemently.
If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise.
Likewise also said they all.
So they all pipe up eventually after they hear Peter saying,
You know, I'm willing to even die with you.
No, no, no, Lord, I'm not going to deny you.
In fact, he doubles down and says, I'll even die with you.
And of course, that gets the others riled up and they say,
Yeah, us too. Yeah, we'll deny.
Or excuse me, we'll die with you, Lord.
And of course, we know the story.
Later on, they do forsake him.
And Peter does, in fact, begin to deny him.
Moving on through the text, though, let's go on.
It says in verse 32,
And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane.
And he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here while I shall pray.
And he taketh with them Peter, James, and John.
And that's something you see happen several times throughout Christ's ministry
in the Mount of Transfiguration.
It's these threes that go up with them.
It bears repeating that you have the 70 disciples.
You have the 70 or the 12 apostles, and then you have the inner circle with the three.
And then even further in, you have John, the disciple whom Jesus loved.
We should always be wanting to draw closer to Christ.
We don't want to be, it's great to be part of the 70,
but it's really great to be part of the 12.
And it's amazing to be the one that could be said of like John,
that you're the disciple whom Jesus loved.
Again, that's another sermon.
He takes with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be sore, amazed, and to be very heavy.
And he saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death.
Tear ye here and watch.
And he's telling this to the three there, saying,
You guys need to just watch while I go and pray yonder,
and you need to watch and pray.
It says in verse 35,
And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed,
that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible,
and if thee take away this cup from me, nevertheless not what I will,
but what thou wilt.
And of course, in parallel passages,
we see that he's even praying to the place where he's sweating blood, in fact,
which I believe he literally did.
That is a phenomenon that's out there.
And you say, well, I don't know why would he do that,
because we can't even begin to comprehend the stress,
the anguish that Christ is going through.
We get a little nervous when we have to go to the dentist or something.
We get a stomach ache and things like that
when we have to go do things that we don't want to do.
Well, here's the Son of God,
the sinless, perfect Son of God,
who created all things,
and by him all things consist and have their being,
and he's going to subject himself to some of the most shameful,
and just shameful scorning and mocking and cruelty
that anyone has ever seen.
And death. Oh, and hell.
And that didn't catch him off guard either.
So we can't just read over these things.
We have to really think about what it is that he's saying.
He's asking, let this cup pass for me.
Take away this cup for me.
But then we also see the fact that he became obedient even unto death,
he became obedient unto death even the death of the cross,
as the scripture says,
nevertheless not what I will, but thou wilt.
And that should always be our attitude.
You know, if we have to suffer things,
understand that Christ also suffered for us.
What I want to point out here in verse 37,
it says that when he cometh, he findeth them sleeping.
Right?
He just got done telling them, hey, watch.
You know, and these are the same guys that were just,
you know, Peter included,
that were just a minute, you know, a little bit ago saying,
you know, I'll die with you.
And he's saying, okay, great, now can you watch with me?
And, you know, so often you'll see people in the Christian life,
they like to boast themselves and say,
you know, I'll suffer for Christ.
I'm willing to do this and I'm willing to that.
And it's easy to say that because talk is cheap.
Well, you know, when you have to put up or shut up,
you know, it's a different story sometimes.
And he cometh and findeth them sleeping.
He just got done saying, watch.
You guys need to watch.
You need to be praying right now.
I know it's late.
I know that you just ate a nice meal.
I know it's been a long, hard day's work.
I know we've been serving God for three years now,
but you need to watch.
And he cometh and findeth them sleeping and he saith,
and this is interesting, he says, Peter, Simon,
that's the same guy, Simon Peter, right?
Peter was surnamed Simon.
Peter Simon, sleepest thou?
Oh, you who were going to die with me and not deny me.
But you who I just told to watch,
here you are sleeping, sleepest thou?
Couldest thou not watch one hour?
Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.
The Spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
You see, when Jesus told them that they were all going to be offended him that night,
it's not like he was rubbing their faces in it.
He's just saying, this is a fact.
This is what's going to happen.
And they're denying it.
They're saying, no, we'll die with you.
And he's saying, okay, if that's the way you feel, you need to watch and pray.
If you're going to actually do what you're saying you're going to do,
don't be caught sleeping.
You need to be watching and praying.
Why? Because the Spirit truly is ready.
You guys mean what you're saying.
Maybe in your heart that's what you want to do, but your flesh is weak.
They should have been watching.
They should have been praying, but God found them sleeping.
And it's interesting to me that Jesus, when he wakes Peter,
says unto him, Peter, Simon.
And maybe he's kind of doing one of these.
If you ever have to have somebody wake you up,
you only hear your name once, but they've been saying it repeatedly.
Wake up, wake up, wake up.
Maybe that's kind of why he's saying it twice, like Peter.
Simon, he's deep asleep.
And if you want to keep something there, go back to Luke chapter 22
in a parallel passage here.
We'll see again where the Lord says Peter's name to him twice.
I think it's just interesting.
I don't know if there's a connection here, but it kind of jumped out at me.
Why is he saying his name twice in a row?
Peter, Simon? Is he just trying to wake him up?
Or is it that he's trying to really get his attention
and get him to be alert and to pay attention?
If you look at verse 31, this is leading up to these same events.
It says, and the Lord said, Simon, Simon.
Twice again, Simon, Simon.
He's trying to get him to pay attention.
Behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.
I mean, that should have been enough right there
to cause Peter, Simon, to really be on his guard.
And yet this is something that you can relate to when you're in ministry
or you've been in, you know, part of a ministry.
You'll tell people, hey, the devil walketh about as a roaring lion
seeking whom he'll devour.
Take heed lest you fall.
You warn people about sin.
You warn people about the devil repeatedly.
You say, Simon, Simon, you keep preaching the same things.
You keep warning people about sin.
You keep warning young people about the dangers of fornication and drunkenness.
You keep warning people about covetousness.
You keep warning people to keep repeating yourself.
You keep saying, Simon, Simon, Simon, Peter.
Satan wants to sift you as wheat.
You warn people about the devil, but they have the same reaction.
They doze off in the Christian life.
They're not vigilant.
You bring it up over and over again.
You say, you know, watch and praise.
You tell them to be vigilant, to be sober as the Bible commands us.
And yet people so often in their Christian's life, they just spiritually nod off.
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you.
They may sift you as wheat.
But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not.
And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
The Lord already knows what's going to happen.
He's saying, Simon, the devil wants to sift you as wheat.
And in fact, he doesn't tell them this,
but he already knows that Simon is going to fail.
He's going to deny him.
And in fact, he's going to quit the ministry and backslide and take others with him.
But he's saying, but when you are converted, not when you get saved,
but when you get right, when your heart finally gets right with God,
when you get over yourself, when you get over your regret and your shame,
strengthen thy brethren.
You'll see later in John, he says, feed my sheep.
Strengthen thy brethren.
He said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison and to death.
So you can see the parallel passage there.
And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the crock shall not crow this day before thou has denied me thrice,
that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.
Again, the warning, before he had even gone to sleep, before they even got in the garden,
he's trying to really get his attention.
Simon, Simon, Satan desires to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.
And later he's repeating his name, trying to wake him up.
Peter, Simon, you're not, you're not listening.
You're not paying attention.
And the problem is, is that the, you know, the spirit is ready.
I don't think Simon here, Peter is, is just putting on a show or trying to lift himself up.
I think maybe he genuinely feels this way.
I mean, Peter is a very, you know, for all his faults is also a very bold man
who has demonstrated great faith in the past throughout the ministry of Christ.
And obviously, you know, he's one of the three.
God, the Lord Jesus has a special place for him.
He has an affinity for him.
But, you know, the spirit, I believe, of Peter was willing, as Jesus said,
but unfortunately it was his flesh that is weak.
And again, that's what we warn so often ourselves and others about the flesh,
the temptations of the flesh, the weakness of the flesh.
If you're there in Galatians, you can, you know, we read it all the time here, verse 16.
This I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Look, if you're fulfilling the lust of the flesh, that can only mean one thing,
that you're not walking in the spirit.
And look, I'm not saying that if we walk in the spirit we're going to be perfect and sinless.
That we're going to, you know, we will stumble, we will slip, we will trip up.
But if we're walking in the spirit, you know, the Bible says we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh,
and these are contrary one to another so that you cannot do the things that you would.
You can't watch and sleep. You can't be vigilant and nod off.
But if you be led of the spirit, you're not under the law.
Go back to Mark chapter 14, Matthew chapter, Mark chapter 14.
So again, he warns him, you know, he tries to wake up, he wakes him up,
Peter, Simon, you're not listening, you're not getting it.
You need to watch, you need to be awake, you need to pray,
lest you fall into temptation, Peter.
I know your spirit is willing, but it's your flesh that's the problem.
And this is the Christian life.
You know, our spirit, you know, we want to do the things that we ought to be doing,
but so often we find ourselves doing the complete opposite.
Because that is the flesh.
And we need to watch and we need to pray and we need to walk in the spirit.
And it says in verse 39,
And again he went away and prayed and spake the same words.
And in return he found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy,
neither wished they what to answer him.
So they kind of wake up, you know, and they're like, uh, caught us again.
They don't have an answer.
They don't have an excuse.
And he cometh a third time and saith unto them,
and I've read this so many times, I've always wondered why this was his response.
He comes back after having prayed,
and then he goes and they have nothing to answer,
and he goes back and he cometh to them a third time,
and he saith unto them, you know what, just go ahead and sleep.
Sleep on now. Take your rest.
It is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed in the hand of sinners.
I mean, the previous two times, it appears that he's, you know,
he's going to Peter trying to wake him up.
And then, you know, the second time he comes back, they wish not to answer him,
meaning they woke up and said they had no, sorry, I don't know what to say.
It's late, Lord. They just had no excuse.
But the third time he comes and he says, you know what, just sleep on.
And I think what we can take from this is that, you know, if we don't watch,
if we don't pray, if we don't walk in the Spirit, if we walk in the flesh,
what we're going to have in our lives are missed opportunities.
I mean, this is such a great opportunity to be there for the Lord,
to have been in that garden, you know, and understanding everything that's taking place
and hearing the words of Christ, the warnings that he had just given them,
you would think that they would just have been fervent in prayer,
that they would have been keeping each other up, doing whatever they had to do
in order to follow the command to watch and pray, to not fall in to that temptation.
And that's the, you know, that's the lesson we can learn from this is that
if we don't watch, if we don't pray, you know, it's going to get to a point
when the Lord just says, sleep on, that you missed the opportunity.
And that can apply to so many different areas in our life.
We can apply that in so many different ways.
If we want to be Christians that just decide, I'll serve God later, I'll serve God later,
I'll serve God later, eventually it's going to get to a place where it's too late to serve God.
Even to the degree to perhaps which we could have served God.
As we get older and older and we are, you know, our energy becomes less and less
and more constraints are put upon our time and more responsibilities are laid upon us,
you know, we'll have less and less time to serve God the way we could have, perhaps.
Windows of opportunity will close in our lives and that's it, they're shut.
Once it's gone, it's gone.
Hey, I came the first time and told you to watch and pray.
I came the second time and told you watch and pray.
Here I am the third time, you missed out, go ahead and just keep on sleeping.
It doesn't matter now.
The hours come, I'm betrayed in the hands of sinners.
It's too late. You guys are going to all deny me now.
You had your chance to watch and pray.
You know, you said you wanted, you were going to die with me.
But, you know, you missed your opportunity to pray and make that come to pass.
The same thing can happen in our lives if we're not careful.
There's so many ways to apply it.
Ruin that marriage, that's it.
That marriage is over.
Ruin those kids, that's it.
Your parenting's done.
Your children are grown, it's over.
Don't read your Bible, that's it.
You know, that year's gone.
Don't memorize scripture, don't go soul-witting.
That's it, that opportunity's gone. You'll never get it back.
And, you know, maybe tonight this is just the Lord coming and going,
hey, so-and-so, remember what I told you about the flesh and the spirit?
Wake up, you know, watch and pray.
The devil desires to sift you his wheat.
That's what so many of these, I feel like these sermons that are,
it's just me trying to kind of go, hey, don't forget, this is real,
this is the Christian life, we have work to do.
But it'll get to a point in our lives if we just keep sleeping
and just keep resting and stop being vigilant.
You know what? That opportunity is going to come and go.
Paul said in 1 Thessalonians,
ye are the children of light and the children of the day.
We are not of the night nor of darkness.
Therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober.
You know, we have an opportunity because we are the children of day.
We have the ability, the opportunity to do things that they that are of the night cannot do.
Look, there's things that you are a child of the day.
You're the children of light.
If you're born again, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside you,
you have the word of God, you can read this book and understand it
and preach it to others and instruct others, instruct your family,
lead your family, go out and win souls and disciple people.
I mean, you have something that you can do that very few people can do, my friend.
Very few people on this earth can do. It's a very rare opportunity.
So let's not sleep on that.
Let's watch. We're not of darkness.
Praise God, you know, we were or we may have been.
I know a lot of young, there's young people here that got saved at a young age
and hopefully they use their heads and just trust what their elders are telling them
and saying, hey, don't go for sin and just keep yourself out of that darkness.
But that's what you will end up in.
You will end up going out and wasting your life if you get into sin.
Some of us have, you know, come out of that world, come out of that darkness
into His marvelous light and now we have all of us, no matter what our past is,
have the opportunity to go out and manifest the light of the glorious gospel
to a lost and dying world, to those that are blind.
What a rare opportunity.
And Paul says, let us not sleep. Why?
Because when you sleep on that long enough, that opportunity will be gone.
Every opportunity you've had thus far that you've passed on, it's gone.
It's over.
And of course, we know what happens in the story with Peter.
They come and I'm going to jump ahead in the passage here
to where exactly what Peter said he would not do
and what Christ said he would do came to pass, where he denies Christ.
But what leads up to that? Him not watching, not praying, him sleeping,
not being vigilant, him resting on his laurels and missing that opportunity.
And now he has to suffer the consequences.
Because, you know, some people, they miss out on opportunities.
They understand what's going on and they just kind of go,
yeah, it's not a big deal.
You miss out on enough opportunities long enough, I promise you there will be regret.
Whether it's in this life or in heaven.
Whether it's when you're, you know, the things, whatever.
I guess it depends on what we're talking about.
You know, you mess things up bad enough down here.
You miss out on opportunities to be the husband you ought to be,
to be the wife you ought to be, to be the parent you ought to be,
to be the church member you ought to be.
You know, there's a very good chance that you're going to regret that later on in this life.
Maybe when it comes to serving God.
You know, when you might pass on enough opportunities in this life
where you get to the end of your life and you'll regret not having served God more.
But for sure, when you get to heaven, you're going to regret it.
If we don't serve God and we have this life only to serve Christ.
And if we pass on that, we miss on that opportunity to serve God with this life in heaven, we'll regret it.
I promise you.
And look, no matter how much we serve God in this life,
we're all going to have opportunities that we missed out on.
Things we could have done better.
And we're going to have regret.
We'll wish, as the song says, we had given him more.
By and by, when I look on his face, that scar-tattered face, I'll wish I had given him more.
No matter how much you've given.
But how much more so are those lyrics going to ring true for you
if we just continually pass on serving God through our whole lives?
Never grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Never take the opportunities that are given us to serve God.
It's easy to pass on it in the here and now.
But the regret comes later.
It was real easy for Peter in the garden to say, you know, man, I'm just, we've been serving God all day,
I got this whole Passover thing ready.
You know, we ate all that unleavened bread.
I'm tired. It's late.
I already told you I wouldn't deny you, Lord.
And he's just nodding off and thinking, well, you know, I'll deal with it when it happens later.
But now it comes, you know, because of that, here comes where he's actually going to deny it.
And notice what comes as a result.
Regret.
It says in verse 66, and as Peter is beneath in the palace, there come with one of the maids of the high priest.
This is after Jesus has been arrested.
And Peter and John have gone to watch what takes place in the palace there.
And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him and said,
And thou also was with Jesus of Nazareth.
And this is a maid, right? This is a young girl.
This little girl comes up to this big fisherman and says, you are with Jesus of Nazareth.
But he denied saying, I know not.
Neither unto I stand, I what thou sayest.
That he went on the porch and the cock crew.
I don't know if you noticed that first one.
Maybe, but maybe it's starting to dawn on him.
Ooh, man, there's that first cock crowing.
And a maid, another girl saw him again and began to say unto them that stood by,
This is one of them.
But he denied it again.
And a little after they that stood by said again to Peter,
Surely thou art one of them.
For thou art a Galilean and thy speech agreeeth thereto.
They're saying, we recognize your accent.
We know the guys that were running around with them were from Galilean.
You're a Galilean.
You're one of the twelve that were with them. I recognize you.
You were there at the feeding of the five thousand.
You were weren't you the one that walked on water?
And he began to curse and to swear.
To curse and to swear. I mean, he's just profanity and just cursing and swearing.
I never who that.
I know not this man whom you speak.
And the second time the cock crew.
And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him.
And the words Lord's come the Lord's words come back to him.
And look, this is what happens when we pass on opportunities that are given us.
It will come back to mind.
And look, if it's not in this life, it's in heaven.
You know, we shall all give an account of the things done in our body, whether they be good or bad.
It's not talking about sitting there about the works that we've done.
We're all going to give an account to God for what we've done in this life.
And we'll either be rewarded or not rewarded. We'll either hear those words.
Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Or we won't hear them.
But it's all we're going to recall. It's not like we say, well, I never had a chance.
No, you know what's going to probably come to mind?
Servants. The Lord might say, well, you know, there was that church you were part of.
And you had that pastor there. And he was faithful to my word.
He preached and reminded you several times about soul winning, about your Bible reading, about your marriage.
I mean, Christian life is not complicated, folks.
The hard part is just doing it. The hard part, you know, it's not explaining the Christian life people.
It's just getting them to do it.
And the Lord will remind us, well, there was this. All the words are going to come back to us.
And you know what we're going to feel if we missed out on those opportunities?
Regret.
You know, we want to, you know, we want as pastors for the flock that has been given us,
we want to be able to give an account to the Lord with joy and not with sorrow.
You know, believe it or not, I care about your Christian life.
And of course, I care about you as a person, each and every one of you. I care about your families.
I care about you as individuals and everything else that comes along with that.
But you know what I care most of all is your walk with God. I genuinely, sincerely care about that.
And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said to them before the cock crow twice thou shalt deny me thrice.
And when he thought they were on, he said, aw shucks, you got me.
Well, whoops, you were right, Lord. Stupid me. I got egg in my face.
Is that is that what he did? Just kind of shrugged it off and says he wept.
A grown man, this big, strong fisherman, this leader,
this man that was walked with God, that this bold man of God is brought to tears.
Why? Because of the missed opportunity, because the fact that he slept,
did not watch and he was sifted as wheat, just like Jesus warned him.
You know, in the parallel passages in Luke, Luke and Matthew, it doesn't just say that he wept.
It says that he wept bitterly. I mean, this wasn't just, you know, a few tears.
You know, the single tear rolled down his eye. Here's his cheek. You know, he was like, what is this?
What is this? This strange fluid? Right?
No, he's I mean, he's weeping bitterly. We all know what that's like.
That's how bad you say. Why is he weeping? Because he's filled with regret.
Because he knows he did exactly what he said he wouldn't do. He's missed out an opportunity to follow through.
And I wonder how much of it is directly related to the sleeping in the garden,
to not watching, to not praying, to not being in the spirit, but just giving into the flesh.
Look, if we give into the flesh, folks, there's going to be a time when you have regret,
whether it comes to serving God or, you know, maybe more or applicably tonight.
Another way to look at it is when it comes to sin.
You keep giving into the flesh, giving into the flesh. Oh, it feels so good. It's so great.
You know what's going to happen? Regret. Oh, this fornicating is so great.
Sleeping around with everybody is so great. You know what? There's going to be some, you know,
bitter weeping when the doctor comes in with the test results.
You know, when the girl, that stranger you hooked up with goes out and gets the abortion and murders your child.
You know, there's going to be weeping and bitterness or bitter weeping when, you know, the divorce papers are served.
When, you know, the when the liver finally fails because of all the alcoholism.
And here we have this, you know, Peter, a man of God, he's weeping bitterly because of the missed opportunity because he didn't take heed.
Now, if you would go to John 21, because that's not a very encouraging sermon, is it?
If that if that was the end of Peter's story. You know, all it is, is just a cautionary tale.
Don't be like Peter and look, don't be like Peter. But the fact is, is that we all are going to experience missed opportunities.
We're all going to make mistakes. We're all going to do things that we shouldn't.
And what we shouldn't do. The other lesson we can learn from Peter is that don't let that hold you back from serving God.
Don't throw in the towel. Don't say, well, you know, I have been serving God all these years.
What's the use of starting now? You know, I've been serving God.
You know, I've been living for self for my majority of my life. I haven't served God.
Why bother start serving God now? That's that's the wrong attitude.
Because, yeah, Peter had a moment of regret, but the rest of his story is that of redemption.
Because if you remember, in Luke 24, after he's shown himself alive and disciples.
He said in verse 49, Behold, I send the promise the Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high.
That's a direct commandment from the risen Christ to his apostles, to his disciples to say,
Terry in Jerusalem, stay here until you be endued with power from on high.
And it says in John 21, after these things, after those same events that we just read after he's shown himself alive,
given this commandment to Terry in Jerusalem, Jesus showed himself again to disciples at the Sea of Tiberius.
And on this wise, he called himself, he showed himself.
There were together Simon, Peter and Tom. So, you know, verse one is basically kind of a synopsis of the rest of the chapter saying,
here's you know, this is on this wise he showed himself. Here's what happened leading up to the Lord showing himself.
There were come together Simon, Peter and Thomas called Didymus and Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee,
the sons of Zebedee, that's James and John, and two other of his disciples.
Simon and Peter sayeth unto them, I go a-fishing. That's a direct, you know,
that's a direct disobedience to the commandment to Terry in Jerusalem. I go a-fishing.
And they say unto them, we also go with thee. You say, what's going on here?
And this is in the Sea of Tiberius. This is not in Jerusalem. They had to leave Jerusalem to go do this.
They're disobedient. Why would he do that?
Why would Peter, after being by being told by the risen Christ himself,
was looking him in the eye and heard the words come out of his mouth, Terry in Jerusalem,
why would he then go say, well, I go fishing? Because he's filled with regret.
Because the regret has brought him to a place where he's saying, well, I can't serve God. I blew it.
I was there in the garden. I slept. I should have been watching. I should have been praying.
And when people, you know, asked me if I was one of his disciples, I denied Christ three times.
I mean, talk about an intrusive thought, right?
I wonder how many times the words of those little maids, those girls, rang in his ears.
Thou art one of them. You also were with him. I can't believe that little girl got to me.
I failed. It's regret. And he's thinking, look, if I can't even be bold enough to admit to a little girl that I was with Christ,
how am I supposed to be some apostle? How am I supposed to go out and preach the gospel to every creature?
How am I supposed to take this commission upon my back and start the New Testament church?
Who am I? I denied Christ. You know what? I go fishing.
That's what I think is going on here. I think that's him just throwing in the towel.
Because that's what he did before Christ found him, right?
When Christ found him, he was a fisherman. He said, follow me and I will make you a fisher of men.
And he forsook all, as did James and John. And the lesson here is, too, that when you go, you'll take others with you.
The Sons of Zebedee, they said, you know, we go with you. As well as these others, Thomas, Nathaniel, and two others.
You know, he's got a crowd of backsliders who say, you know what, we'll go with you, too.
You know, I know the Lord wants us to do this, but we're just not fit for the ministry.
And look, this is something that I believe anybody who endeavors to serve God to any degree goes through.
Well, I can't go out and go soul winning. I don't know how just to speak well. I can't explain the gospel to somebody.
Yes, you can. Yes, you can. That's probably gone through the mind of every single soul winner. I can't say that for sure.
But there's probably several people, many people, who have thought, you know, I'll never be able to get anyone saved.
And today they're winning soul after soul after soul after soul because they just kept doing it. They didn't throw in the towel.
They didn't say, well, I go fishing. I mean, I can't tell you how many times I've thought about quitting.
I thought it's surely somebody else can. And you know what, surely somebody could do a much better job.
But they're not here. This is what you get. You're stuck with me. All right.
This is this is what you got, folks. You know, you were praying for a church down here. Tada.
Right. And believe me, the thought has gone through my mind. There's probably somebody more eloquent and knows the Bible better,
is a better teacher, better preacher that can come down here and do a much better job than me.
And I'm sure they're out there. But you know what? They're out there somewhere doing something else.
You know, and I could sit here and feel sorry for myself and say, well, you know, I'm not as good as so and so.
I couldn't be. You know, I'm not as good as this person or that person or somebody else could do it.
I go fishing. But you know what? What would happen to the church?
How many other people would go would would quit serving God? Hopefully none.
But the reality is, often is that when people backslide and quit, they usually take some people with them.
So Simon and you say again, why is he doing this? Because of regret, because of the missed opportunity that he had.
So they go out there and Simon Peter sayeth and I go fishing, they say unto him, we also go with thee.
They went forth and entered into a ship immediately and that night they caught nothing.
I love that detail. People think, oh, you know, I'm going to go back to the old life.
I'm going to quit this Christian life. I'm going to quit serving God. I'm going to go back to the way it was.
It won't be the same. It's going to be fruitless. There's going to be no joy.
There's going to be no peace. It's not going to profit you anything. You'll catch nothing.
And talk about then you'll have some regret, right? When you go to give an account to God, say, well, I caught nothing.
You know, you told me to be a fisher of men, but I quit and went back to the old life and I've caught nothing.
And when morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, busted, but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
This is what I love about the Lord. He doesn't let us wander off. He comes and finds us where we are.
Right. Like the sheep, like the one sheep that has gone astray, he leaves the 99 and go after the one.
God's not going to. Here's the thing, folks. God's not going to God's child. You're saved.
You don't get to just wander off. You'll go out there and catch nothing and have you know,
life won't be the same and God will come find you where you are.
I love that God doesn't give up on us. Even when we've given up on him.
I mean, that's what's going on in the story. Peter's saying, I quit. And Jesus saying, well, I don't.
And Jesus sayeth unto the children, have you any meat? As if he doesn't know.
Hey, how's it going out there on your boat? You catching anything?
He answered him, no. What a pathetic answer. No.
Then he said, and then cast the net on the right side of the ship and you shall find.
Just like when he caught him the first when he found him the first time.
When he said, let down the net, the nets. And Peter said, Lord, we've been out all night.
And he said, nevertheless, if I let that I will let down the net.
You know, he half obeys and then he catches so many fish that the net break and he has to call
unto his fellow fishermen to come help bring in the hall of fish.
And when Simon Peter sees it, he falls at the Lord's feet and says, depart from me, for I'm a sinful man.
So it's the same story again. He's saying, you know what? Go and cast your ship on the other side.
I know you've been fishing all night and haven't caught anything. But why don't you try it one more time?
They cast, therefore, verse six, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved, John, saith unto Peter, it is the Lord.
Now, when Peter Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat onto him for he was naked.
And I don't think that that necessarily means he was, you know, in his birthday suit.
He just wasn't properly clothed. And he cast himself into the sea.
And the other disciples came in a little ship, for they were not far from land, but as it were, 200 cubits.
And notice, this is the same guy that walked on water.
The guy said, Lord, if it be you, bid me come to you on the water.
But he's just so desperate to get back to Jesus, he doesn't even think to ask that.
He just puts on his fisher's coat and just jumps in the water and starts swimming.
Look, no matter how far away you get from God, part of you is always going to want to get back.
There's always going to be a part of you that's just desperate to be back in God's presence.
No matter how far away, how backslidden you are, that will haunt you.
There will always be that part of you in the back of your mind going, I just, I wish I was closer to God.
Because he's your father.
Simon Peter went up and drew the net to the land, excuse me, where was I?
And as soon, so they catch up, you know, the other disciples are trying to catch, they're just following Peter wherever he goes.
The other disciples came in a little ship, for they were not far from land, as it were, 200 cubits, dragging the net with fishes.
Like, thanks for the help, Peter.
And as soon as they were coming to land, they saw a fire, coals, and fish laid there on and bred.
Now, who fixed that?
Who got that fire going?
It was the Lord.
And there's already fish and bread warming up.
Right, as the song says, Jesus has the table spread where the saints of God are fed.
He invites his chosen people to come and dine.
That's what he says in verse 12, Jesus saith unto them, come and dine.
See, this is the thing that keeps people away from serving God.
They mess up, they get backslidden, they miss out on opportunities to serve God.
They backslide, they quit on God completely, they go back, and then what brings them back is the goodness of God.
The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance, the Bible says.
Look, Jesus isn't just waiting to scold you for every single infraction.
You know, God, you know, wants to bring you back so you have fellowship with him.
And not remind you of how you failed.
I mean, he does bring it up with Peter to prove a point, to help Peter get over it and go on and serve God with his life.
But see, I think this is why sometimes people never, you know, as much as they want to jump in the water and swim back to the Lord,
they won't do it. They're just going to go further away from land.
It's because they think Jesus is just over there, you know, with a bat just like waiting to take their head off or something.
And look, God chastens every son whom he receiveth.
He said, you know, who I love I rebuke and chasten.
But at the same token, God is merciful, God is kind, God is loving, and God is patient.
And when they come back all backslidden and wet and tired from out there catching nothing all night,
he's like, well, have some fish, have some bread, and dry yourself out.
And let's get back to serving God.
Why don't you just start doing what I told you to do, right?
He doesn't lecture them. He doesn't lay into all of them.
What are you doing here? I told you to tear in Jerusalem, you bunch of backsliders.
He's trying to redeem them, and he does it through mercy.
And I love this. It says in verse 12, Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine, I know you're hungry,
and none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou?
Knowing it was the Lord.
They're like, Are you the Lord? Like they knew who it was.
Jesus then cometh and taketh bread and giveth them and fish likewise.
I mean, he's serving them.
They're backslidden. They're the ones that have quit.
They're the ones that are not where they're supposed to be.
They're not in Jerusalem waiting to be endued with power from on high.
They've gone back to the old life. They followed Peter out into the ocean,
and they're just toiling and catching nothing.
And now they're getting busted, red handed by the Lord himself.
And Jesus is saying, Here, have some bread. Here, have some fish.
And this is the mercy of God.
This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he was risen from the dead.
Verse 15, So when they had died, Jesus saith unto Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas.
You know, there again, Simon Peter, Simon, Simon saying his name twice, trying to get his attention,
trying to get him to understand something.
You know, he tried before to get him to understand.
You need to watch and pray because the devil wants to sift you as wheat.
And when he caught him not watching and not praying,
Simon Peter, pay attention.
And now he's catching him having backslidden, filled with regret.
And he says, Simon, son of Jonas, loveth thou me more than these.
And you know, people have different interpretations of what the these are, what he's referring to.
Loveth thou me more than these.
And some people have different interpretations of what he's referring to.
I believe he's referring to the other disciples.
Because that's what kicked everything off.
Jesus or Peter said, though all these forsake you, yet not I.
Though all other men forsake you, I'll go to die with you.
What he's basically saying is I love you more than the rest of these men.
These other guys that are here, Lord, that you're telling us that we're going to be offended and we're all going to forsake you.
Not me because I love you more than the rest of them.
That's my interpretation.
And he's saying, do you love me more than these other disciples?
He saith unto them, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.
He's not saying, yeah, of course I do.
He's just saying, yea, Lord, you know that I love you.
Isn't that enough that, you know, I don't know, I can't tell you how much other people love you, Lord, but I can tell you this thing, this much, I love you.
And he saith unto him, Feed my sheep, like he told them, I have prayed for you, and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
He's saying, and now this is the conversion, this is him getting over his regret.
And the Lord's helping him through this. Of course there's mercy.
Of course he's not just scolding them the moment he washes up on shore.
You know, he makes a fire, he feeds them, but he's saying, but now let's talk about this, let's deal with it.
Let's get over this.
And he's saying, do you love me more than these?
And again the second time, Simon, son of me, saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.
He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Feed the lambs, feed the children, feed the sheep, feed the sheep.
And really, you know, he's asking him the third time, he saith unto him the third time.
Why three times? Because that's how many times he denied him.
That's the regret that he had.
It wasn't enough that I denied the Lord once.
So he's dealing with this, this regret that he has.
Simon, son of me, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.
Jesus saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest with thyself,
and another shall gird thee, and carry thee, whither thou wouldst not.
I told them, you're going to die for me.
Don't worry, Peter, you're going to have an opportunity.
Die with me, don't worry, you've got another opportunity.
You failed that night, like I said you would.
In spite of your pride, in spite of your determination, you failed, you missed that opportunity.
Now you're filled with regret, but here he is showing love, showing mercy, dealing with it.
Now that you understand it's not about you loving me more than other people, it's just about you loving me.
And he's being told, someone else is going to gird you.
You're going to stretch forth your hands, and they're going to take you somewhere you would not want to be.
When he had spoken of this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
And that's really...
Those are the words that Jesus spoke to him when he called them into the ministry.
Follow me.
The same opportunity being repeated to him again.
To a man who is filled with regret, the charge that has been laid upon him.
Go over to Philippians chapter 3, we'll close there.
So we see, you know, if we're not careful, if we walk in the flesh and not in the spirit,
... opportunities.
And as a result, you know, we will feel...
... Peter immediately.
But you know, that regret...
... again, and I'm not talking about salvation.
Once you're saved, you're always saved.
... messed up, if we've slipped up, if we're backslidden, God still wants to use us.
... that maybe we'll close certain windows permanently forever.
But we can...
... to be another opportunity in some way, shape, or form for you to go out and serve God.
...
... full to us.
He says in Psalm 103,
Like as a father beth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
For he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust.
I mean, he said it was going to happen.
He said all of you are going to be offended this night.
... that the scripture might be of need, and his hour of temptation forsook him.
... for frail.
Look, God knows what he got when he redeemed us, when he bought us.
God knows, you know, what our weaknesses are.
God knows what our proclivities are.
God knows the unities that are given us in this life.
He wants us to watch and pray.
... backslidden.
...
And when you do feel that regret, you can't let that stop you.
And the Lord's not going to let it.
He's going to be there reminding you,
You can still serve me and have mercy.
That's a promise of God.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
You know, I just don't know that I could ever get right and start serving God again.
You know what you could do? You could drop to your knees.
...
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper.
...
God knows that you could.
I don't know if I could get back on track with the Lord.
Well, the Lord knows that you could.
But one of the biggest hurdles people have is the same hurdle that Peter had in the story.
They can't get over the regret.
They feel so bad about themselves, they can't get over the past.
We know this verse, Philippians chapter 3 verse 13.
Rather than count on myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forth on those things which are before.
We need to look unto Jesus the author and finish our faith.
We need to look forward and quit worrying about what we did or didn't do in the past.
It's the past.
You can't do anything about the past.
It's over.
You're going to sit here and beat yourself up over the past for the rest of your life?
It's ridiculous.
Using the past as an excuse to not serve God, it's not right.
Confess that sin, forsake that sin, and go on and serve God.
This is Paul saying this.
He said it was before a blasphemer and a persecutor injurious.
He persecuted the church.
He said, nevertheless, I found grace because I did it ignorantly.
And he said that God chose him to be an example to those which should thereafter believe on
him to life everlasting.
He said, I am the chiefest of all sinners.
This is a true saying that Christ Jesus came in the world to save sinners of whom I am
chief.
That's Paul that said that.
And that was true.
You can see where he's coming from.
Paul is the one that's saying, look, if there's anybody that has a reason to be filled with
regret, it's Paul.
Those that stoned Stephen, the first martyr, laid their feet at Saul's feet, Paul's feet,
and he was consenting unto his death.
He's persecuting the church so much so that when he got saved, the other apostles were
like, we don't want anything to do with this guy.
But see, Paul is not somebody who let himself get drugged down by his past.
He said, and pressing, reaching forth under those who were reaching, I pressed toward
the mark for the prize of the high.
He's just saying, look, I'm not going to sit here and dwell on the past.
I'm not going to let old sins and old failures and shortcomings hold me back from serving
God.
I'm going to press toward the mark for the high prize of the calling of God in Christ.
There is a prize to be won in this life.
There is a prize.
There's a reward to those that serve God in this life.
Don't miss out on that opportunity.
Don't let regret hold you back.
He says in verse 15, let us as many as be perfect be thus minded.
This is the mindset that you have to have in a Christian life.
That when you do fail, when you do mess up, when you do make mistakes, if you do get backslidden,
don't quit.
God's not just looking to drop the hammer on you.
God wants to show you love, mercy.
God wants you to confess and forsake that sin and to go on to serve Him.
Why?
Because there's still a prize to be won.
There's still a crown of glory that can be set upon your head.
There's still an opportunity to serve God in this life.
If you're here tonight, you have an opportunity to do something for God.
Look, we don't know the opportunities that some people in this room might have.
There might be another, look, there's soul winners everywhere.
Everywhere I look in this room, there's a soul winner, which is the greatest preaching
that we could do.
Lead souls out of hell by the thousands.
Some of you have an opportunity to serve God and raise families and raise godly children
or go on and do great things for God.
Every single one of us has an opportunity to bring forth 30, 60, and some 100-fold souls.
I mean, there's people in this room tonight that if they gave their life to Christ in
service, who knows what they could do?
Who knows how God could use them?
There's another preacher sitting in this room.
There's another pastor sitting in this room.
Maybe several who could go on and start churches all throughout this whole region, throughout
this whole country and different parts of the world and see great masses come to Christ.
Who knows what God could do?
Who knows what opportunities people have in this room?
But if all we're thinking is, well, I messed up.
I'm not good enough.
I can't do that.
Well, then you're just going to miss out on another one and another one and another
one.
But that's not God's fault.
That's our own mentality that's holding us back, and it's not right.
God wants to use us.
God wants to call us back to shore, fix us up, and get us back on the path.
Let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, again, thank you for the ability, the opportunity we have to serve you in sincerity
and truth in this life, and Lord, to glorify you in our lives, and Lord, I pray you'd
help us to take full advantage of that, Lord, and to not let the past be a stumbling block
to us, and to not let it be a weight that drags us and holds us down and causes us
to not move forward.
Help us, Lord, to confess our sins, to forsake those things, and Lord, to understand that
you love us, that you care about us, that you're merciful, that you're long suffering,
and Lord, though we may have disappointed you and let you down and maybe even angered
you, Lord, that your wrath will not abide forever, Lord, that in wrath you remember
mercy, Lord, that weeping may endure for the night, Lord, there's joy in the morning,
that your mercies are new every morning, Lord.
Help us to take advantage of that, Lord, and the opportunity that we have to serve you
in this life.
We thank you for it.
In Christ's name, amen.
Let's sing one more song before we are dismissed.
Please grab your hymnals and turn to song number 147.
Let's sing one more song before we are dismissed.